# Sauces for tagliatelle



## Suthseaxa (Dec 2, 2016)

I made tagliatelle last week and it was rather fun. It was also extremely tasty with ragu alla Bolognese. I'd love ti make it again, but I am struggling to come up with any other sauces. Most sources I have suggest ragu alla Bolognese or "a rich meat sauce." Even Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking does not shed much more light on it.

Does anyone here have any suggestions of what can served with tagliatelle? Preferably authentic Italian for the immersion!


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## medtran49 (Dec 2, 2016)

Just Google tagliatelle.  The results are a multitude of sauces.  I think the fresh corn pesto looks pretty darn good IMO.


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## msmofet (Dec 2, 2016)

Alfredo or carbonara


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## buckytom (Dec 3, 2016)

Brown butter and sage sauce, or crushed sausage, aglio olio, and red pepper flakes are two of my "something different" sauces to go with good pasta.


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 3, 2016)

Alfredo and carbonara...does that mean creamy sauces are a good pairing?

Also, does anyone know of any other meat sauces than the Bolognese ragu? The only other one I can think of is Marcella Hazan's chicken liver sauce.


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## giggler (Dec 3, 2016)

I would argue "No". Creamy sauces are for smaller noodles, Fetuchini. Big noodles require Big Sauces! A big beef or Liver or Pork sauce is served on big noodles, the meat is usually serve separately as a Secondo.
Eric, Austin Tx.


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 3, 2016)

Served as a secondo? As in cooking the meat in the sauce, removing it and using the sauce for a pasta course?


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## giggler (Dec 3, 2016)

Yes, when I've had this dish, I had a nice salad, then a huge plate of pasta with sauce, with wine and bread, and then when you think you can have no more.. here comes the Meat! Then when You Really think you can have no more, you get sliced fruit with cheese and a Port wine. It is very nice!
Eric, Austin Tx.


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## GotGarlic (Dec 3, 2016)

Pork shoulder ragu: http://food52.com/blog/15270-genius-pork-shoulder-ragu-a-k-a-the-instant-dinner-party/


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## msmofet (Dec 3, 2016)

giggler said:


> I would argue "No". Creamy sauces are for smaller noodles, Fetuchini. Big noodles require Big Sauces! A big beef or Liver or Pork sauce is served on big noodles, the meat is usually serve separately as a Secondo.
> Eric, Austin Tx.



The Fettuccine and tagliatelle I buy are about the same width. I have made spinach tagliatelle alfredo and it was wonderful.  You may be thinking of papardeli (sp) wide noodles.


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## GotGarlic (Dec 3, 2016)

For reference. Click on Varieties to see pictures with names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pasta


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## di reston (Dec 3, 2016)

List of sauces and 'dressings' for tagiatelle - Buttalapasta site, in italian:

If there's anything in this list that grabs you, let me know - I'll post the recipe-
The recipes are, as they say here, 'italianissi - but then they ARE italian 'Made in Italy DOC':

Swordfish and saffron
White Alba truffle and porcini mushrooms
Cauliflower
Aspargus
Rabbit ragù, rabbit sugo
Cream, porcini mushrooms and chestnuts
Sausage and cream
Cream, bacon cubes and peas
mussel sauce
Spinach and salmon
Saffron, lemon and Pecorino Sardo (Sardinian recipe)
Spinach and pumpkin
Baked tomato sauce, mushrooms and bacon cubes
Pesto alla Genovese and other pesto's
Baked with chick peas and mozzarella di bufala (Southern Italy and Sicily)
Green beans and mushrooms
capers and black olives
'Hay and Straw' tagliatelle, butter and grated parmesan (spinach and classic tagliatelle mix, hence 'hay and straw', serve usually with a sugo or a ragù

Interesting, eh? They're all simple to make, and pasta is the stand-by food when you're in a hurry or very hungry. Butta la Pasta means 'get the pasta on'

Hope the above list gives you inspiration to experiment and create your own sauce/dressing

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## GotGarlic (Dec 3, 2016)

What a great list, di. I would love to see the recipe for mussel sauce.


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## msmofet (Dec 3, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> What a great list, di. I would love to see the recipe for mussel sauce.



Just a guess - maybe it is close to a red or white clam sauce?


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 3, 2016)

di reston said:


> List of sauces and 'dressings' for tagiatelle - Buttalapasta site, in italian:
> 
> If there's anything in this list that grabs you, let me know - I'll post the recipe-
> The recipes are, as they say here, 'italianissi - but then they ARE italian 'Made in Italy DOC':
> ...



Cream, chestnuts and mushroom looks amazing. As does spinach and salmon. Baked tomato sauce, too. Wow! What a list


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## Addie (Dec 3, 2016)

di reston said:


> List of sauces and 'dressings' for tagiatelle - Buttalapasta site, in italian:
> 
> If there's anything in this list that grabs you, let me know - I'll post the recipe-
> The recipes are, as they say here, 'italianissi - but then they ARE italian 'Made in Italy DOC':
> ...



Wow. As the saying goes, "Ask and ye shall receive."


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## di reston (Dec 3, 2016)

Tagliatelle with mussel sauce recipe:

The recipe does specify tagiatelle, but spaghetti go equally well, in fact, the majority of fish based pasta recipes specify spaghetti, which should be of the thicker variety rather than the thinner ones.  The sauce is also known  as mussel sugo, in that some of the mussels are left whole and the smaller ones are chopped to give the dish a sauce consistency - very simple but very effective. You can also use frozen mussels - very handy.

For 4 people:

2Kg mussels in their shells, fresh or frozen
500g tomato pulp, carton or can
Fresh garlic to taste
Large handful of chopped freshly chopped parsley, and half a tablespoon of chopped fresh marjoram. Adjust quantities if you're using dried.
EVOO to taste, about 2 tbsp
Fresh tagliatelle or, if preferred, spaghetti.

If you're using fresh mussels, cleans and rinse them. If you're using frozen, they should be clean enough, but it's wise to check.
Pick out the larger mussels, discarding any that don't look healthy. Leave whole with shell.
Shell the remaining mussels and  roughly chop the mussel meat.
Peel and crush the garlic and put in pan with the EVOO.Then add the tomato pulp and simmer for 15 mins. Then add the whole mussels together with the chopped ones. Now bring to the boil, stirring occasionally until the mussels are done. Finally add the parsley and marjoram, stir well, mix in the pasta and serve nice and hot.

Buon appetito!


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## msmofet (Dec 3, 2016)

Suthseaxa said:


> Cream, chestnuts and mushroom looks amazing. As does spinach and salmon. Baked tomato sauce, too. Wow! What a list



So I would think a cream sauce such as alfredo or carbonara would be just fine. 
To me pasta is pasta just long strands or shapes (macaroni). If I don't have a specific pasta I sub another of the same type. Examples spaghetti, fettuccine, tagliatelle or linguine for a long strand pasta. Or ziti or penne for shapes (macaroni). No matter the shape it all basically is the same recipe and taste to me. With the exception of an egg pasta.

But that's just me. 

And some of the best recipes have been wonderful accidents. Caused by having to substitute for a missing ingredient.


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 3, 2016)

di reston said:


> Tagliatelle with mussel sauce recipe:
> 
> The recipe does specify tagiatelle, but spaghetti go equally well, in fact, the majority of fish based pasta recipes specify spaghetti, which should be of the thicker variety rather than the thinner ones.  The sauce is also known  as mussel sugo, in that some of the mussels are left whole and the smaller ones are chopped to give the dish a sauce consistency - very simple but very effective. You can also use frozen mussels - very handy.
> 
> ...



Grazie mille!


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## giggler (Dec 4, 2016)

"To me pasta is pasta just long strands or shapes (macaroni). If I don't  have a specific pasta I sub another of the same type. Examples  spaghetti, fettuccine, tagliatelle or linguine for a long strand pasta.  Or ziti or penne for shapes (macaroni). No matter the shape it all  basically is the same recipe and taste to me. With the exception of an  egg pasta."

I "heard" somewhere it is different..The shape of the pasta actually Defines the dish.If you walk into a Tratorria in Italy, and you simply order Spaghetti. 99% of the time the Sauce will be Aglio y Olio. oil and spices. if you order Fetuccini, the sauce will most likely be seafood and cream. If you order Bucatoni, it will be a Baked pasta dish.
I've never been to Itally, but I think I saw this on Malto Mario TV. Eric, Austin Tx.


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 4, 2016)

Different pastas complement different dishes due to their shapes and the way they hold the sauce. I want to get comfortable with selecting pastas based on the sauce, as I don't want to be a complete Philistine :P Also, we are considering going to Italy next year, so I don't want to be someone who expects "spaghetti bolognese"


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## medtran49 (Dec 4, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> What a great list, di. I would love to see the recipe for mussel sauce.


 
Have you ever had Carrabba's mussels?  I love them and have them for my dinner when we go there.  They serve it with bread to sop up the sauce but I don't see why it couldn't be on pasta.  I found a copycat recipe that's pretty close to it.  Carrabbas Mussels Cozze Bianco Recipe - Food.com


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## medtran49 (Dec 4, 2016)

This is a copycat recipe I came up with from watching a TV show and a couple of internet sites.  The original recipe was based on an Italian friend's recipe per the owner, who was in Italy playing cello with an orchestra if I remember correctly.  We thought it was pretty good.  It's time consuming to make and a bit pricy but makes a LOT.  I think we had 3, maybe 4, meals for 2 with tagliatelle and made a batch of ravioli filling (chopped it up finer) as well. 

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f21/giuseppes-on-28th-copycat-bolognese-95673.html

The recipe is still kind of a work in progress.  I haven't made it again since the first time but in the last couple of weeks have been thinking about tackling it again and making a few of the changes I noted.


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## larry_stewart (Dec 4, 2016)

That *Cream, porcini mushrooms and chestnuts* sauce caught my eye.
Id love to have the recipe for that if possible.


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## dragnlaw (Dec 4, 2016)

buckytom said:


> Brown butter and sage sauce, or crushed sausage, aglio olio, and red pepper flakes are two of my "something different" sauces to go with good pasta.



*buckytom* now that I've seemed to master the brown butter it is my quick "go to" for a lunch (usually).  I package my ravioli, dumplings, wontons, etc. in little 'snack' sized zip bags.  I can grab 1 or 2 bags and throw the contents in as is.


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## dragnlaw (Dec 4, 2016)

and yummmm  again - *di *, I too would like the Cream, Porcini, Chestnut one.  

The one for the mussels sounds divine! I have a pkg of frozen mussels that I've been wondering what to do with!


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## di reston (Dec 4, 2016)

Tagliatelle with cream, mushrooms and chestnuts. Translated from 'Buttalapasta'  internet site

A typically autmn dish which is both tasty and easy to prepare. You can use a variety of mushrooms.
You need about 10 - 12 chestnuts (either fresh or dried - translator's note)
A perfect dish for an Autumn Sunday lunch or dinner party, or part of an entire menu based on the use of chestnuts, to hail in the arrival of Autumn. This is the recipe:

200g mixed wild mushrooms
About 10 shelled and cleaned chestnuts (translator's note: I'd opt for dried, a lot less trouble)
250ml fresh cream
1 clove of garlic50g butter
2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan or parmesan to taste
Optional: about 75g cubed smoked bacon

Soften the garlic in the butter (without browning it), remove from the pan. Brown the sliced mushrooms. If the chestnuts are fresh, cook on max in the microwave (score the shell criss-cross first to prevent them exploding), shell and chop roughly. For dried shelled chestnuts, soak and boil then rough chop them. Then add to the pan with the bacon and mushrooms.
When everything is cooked, check for seasoning, and then add the cream to make a sauce. Mix everything well, toss the pasta in, and dust with grated Parmesan to taste. Buon Appetito!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## Suthseaxa (Dec 4, 2016)

Amazing! Thank you again


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## msmofet (Dec 4, 2016)

That sounds wonderful Di! Thank you


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## dragnlaw (Dec 5, 2016)

Copied *di* and bunches of Thank You's!!


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## brasato (Feb 2, 2018)

Suthseaxa said:


> I made tagliatelle last week and it was rather fun. It was also extremely tasty with ragu alla Bolognese. I'd love ti make it again, but I am struggling to come up with any other sauces. Most sources I have suggest ragu alla Bolognese or "a rich meat sauce." Even Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking does not shed much more light on it.
> 
> Does anyone here have any suggestions of what can served with tagliatelle? *Preferably authentic Italian for the immersion*!



I'm italian and live in Italy since I was born so I can help you  

It's right that tagliatelle and meat sauces is the best choice.
Further than the typical ragu alla bolognese I suggest: wild boar or deer or duck or rabbit ragu. Another ragu typical of my region is sausage and chicken liver ragu.
Tagliatelle go well also with fish. For example with a white ragu (white ragu means without tomato) of shrimps or sword fish or tuna with a veg of your choice. Also try to use a sauce made of clams and chickpeas, they go very well together. 
If you make your own tagliatelle buy a piece of authentic parmigiano reggiano (I know it's expensive in usa but it's another level) and a piece of high quality unsalted butter and just eat them with melted butter and a lot of grated parmigiano (no cream and garlic please! ).
In the spring and summer (when they are seasonal) I cook tagliatelle with a mixed veg sauce using: peas, fava beans, asparagus and cherry tomatoes (finely chopped and just browned with evoo and a couple of cloves of garlic (not minced, browned and removed just to give scent to the dish), parsley.


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## caseydog (Feb 3, 2018)

di reston said:


> List of sauces and 'dressings' for tagiatelle - Buttalapasta site, in italian:
> 
> If there's anything in this list that grabs you, let me know - I'll post the recipe-
> The recipes are, as they say here, 'italianissi - but then they ARE italian 'Made in Italy DOC':
> ...



Wow, great list. 

Tagiatelle is a big, hearty pasta, so it can take on some rich sauces and big flavors. The ones I highlighted in bold sound really appealing to me. 

I love the fact that DC is an international food forum. We get to have our questions about foods around the world answered by people who live in those countries. 

CD


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## di reston (Feb 4, 2018)

I'm looking through my collection and references to send for this thread. By, when you say,' are tagliatelle and fettuccine' the same thing , the answer is 'yes'. I'll post some more tomorrow - the kitchen beckons! 


di reston


Enough is never as god as a feast     Oscar


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## brasato (Feb 6, 2018)

di reston said:


> I'm looking through my collection and references to send for this thread. By, when you say,' are tagliatelle and fettuccine' the same thing , the answer is 'yes'. I'll post some more tomorrow - the kitchen beckons!
> 
> 
> di reston
> ...



Hello, tagliatelle and fettuccine are not the same thing.
The process and the ingredients are the same, but they are different in width.
We have four terms in relationship with the width (talking about fresh pasta noodles):

tagliolini: 1-2 millimeters
fettuccine: 3-5 millimeters
tagliatelle: 5-10 millimeters
pappardelle: 2-3 centimeters

Talking about dry pasta noodles there are:

spaghetti 5 kind in order of thickness: capelli d'angelo (angel hair), spaghettini, spaghetti, vermicelli, spaghettoni 
linguine (flat shaped)
spaghetti alla chitarra (square section)
bucatini (like spaghetti but with a hole)

These are the "national" noodles, but there are also many regional noodles like for example pici (tuscany), mafalde and ziti (campania), sagne 'ncannulate (puglia), fileja (calabria), pizzoccheri (lombardia) and so on

It has been said that we have more or less 150 pasta shapes in Italy (noodles and other shapes)


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## di reston (Feb 6, 2018)

Well! That's interesting! In all the years I've had to do with Italy, I never knew that! Mind you, even though there are different sizes and shapes of pasta, now that I look at it, I'm still going to continue to buy the types of pasta I usually use, otherwise I'd be inundated in it, and if there's anything I really necessary I'll buy as and when. Thank's for the information.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## GotGarlic (Feb 6, 2018)

I have a thing for fun pasta shapes. I feel like I am a bit inundated with them right now [emoji38]


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## Janet H (Feb 6, 2018)

I recently purchased a bag of Monte Pollino fettuccine at costco - and perhaps it should have been more accurately labeled tagliatelle - either way it's wonderful high quality pasta. Nice chew to it.




Last night I made a quick sauce that was just perfect - light enough for the taste of the pasta to shine through and super easy.

Pasta
1 T olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 can diced tomatoes or crushed
2 T prepared pesto (also from costco)
1/2 t oregano flakes
a few chopped capers
large handful of salad greens (mine were kale, spinach and arugula)
reggiano Parmesan
Cracked pepper

Assemble the ingredients and make the sauce while the water boils

Bring salted water to a boil for pasta and drop the pasta - it will only take about 5 minutes to cook

In skillet: 
Sizzle up olive oil with red pepper flakes and fennel seeds for a minute.
Add canned tomatoes, pesto, capers and oregano; mix it up and turn off the heat. Don't cook this down - just heat it through.

When pasta is cooked but not drained: Add the salad greens to the skillet with the sauce, turn burner back on to med.

Use tongs to pull pasta from cooking water into skillet and toss for a minute.   If sauce is too tight, add a spoonful of pasta water.

Sprinkle with parm and cracked black pepper.


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## brasato (Feb 7, 2018)

Janet H said:


> I recently purchased a bag of Monte Pollino fettuccine at costco - and perhaps it should have been more accurately labeled tagliatelle - either way it's wonderful high quality pasta. Nice chew to it.
> 
> View attachment 29064
> 
> ...



Very nice repice, simple, low in fats but very flavourful, very "italian inspired", especially because there is no cream in it (contrarily to what many people around the world think, cream is almost banned in our cuisine, except in some specific recipes, because it covers too much the rest and damages the sharpness of the flavours).
About pesto, if you can buy fresh basil I always recomend to make it home, it's a one minute job with the mixer and there is no comparison with any bought one. If you cannot buy pine nuts you can subsitute them with almonds. If you cannot buy pecorino you can use parmigiano alone. It's madatory to use evoo.


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## tenspeed (Feb 11, 2018)

brasato said:


> Hello, tagliatelle and fettuccine are not the same thing.
> The process and the ingredients are the same, but they are different in width.
> We have four terms in relationship with the width (talking about fresh pasta noodles):
> 
> ...


  Here in the U.S. the dried pasta labeled tagliatelle is a nest around 3 - 4 inches in diameter (at least the tagliatelle I have seen in supermarkets).  Fettuccine is sold as straight noodles.   I haven't measured them, but they appear to be about the same width.  Pappardelle is far wider.

  I rummaged around the internet and came across the following:

_"As I learned during my trip to Casa Buitoni in Tuscany (among other things, like how to make pasta from scratch), this popular cut of pasta is named two different things based on region. It's called fettuccine in Rome and Southern Italy, and it's referred to as tagliatelle in the Northern regions of Italy. But it's the exact same thing!"_

https://www.popsugar.com/food/Difference-Between-Fettuccine-Tagliatelle-41945041

  According to Wikipedia:

_"Fettuccine is a type of pasta popular in Roman and Tuscan cuisine. It is a flat thick pasta made of egg and flour (usually one egg for every 100 g of flour), wider than but similar to the tagliatelle typical of Bologna."_

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine

  No wonder us non-Italians are confused!


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## buckytom (Feb 11, 2018)

I've had boar in a tomato sauce with tagliatelle before, and it was fantastic. The thicker pasta was a good match for the hearty l, gamey meat.

It was at a now defunct Italian restaurant on W 56th and 9th. My wife would always ask to go there no matter where we were in the city, lol, because their pastas were that good.

The last time we went was when my boy was just about 2 or 3 years old. We asked for the table in the corner where it was floor to ceiling windows looking out on the traffic of 9th ave. It kept the little guy busy between bites looking at all of the traffic. 
Well, he ate his pasta with his hands ($20 for a plate of spaghetti with a little bit of sauce for a baby? ) and then he proceeded to put his saucy hands all over the windows trapped between us on either side, announcing every taxi, police car, or horse drawn carriage that went slowly by.

There was overpriced soaghetti on the floor, on the seats, and saucy little hand prints all over the windows.

I think I left about a 35 or 40% tip that night as we hurried out to our car.


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## di reston (Feb 12, 2018)

Hi all - have 'away' for a short while, but I'm glad to be back. Here's my recipe for rabbit ragù that somebody asked for. This recipe was passed on to me by a most delightful lady whom we all liked to call 'Nonna Betti', which in English is 'Gran'ma Betti'. Betti is the surname. I met her when I was in Italy with wine merchant clients  search of interesting wines. We were invited to the 'Castello Gancia' (we were in an area that produced Asti Spumante, as well as other very interesting wines). Anyway, Nonna Betti was a fabulous cook, and this is her recipe for Hunter's rabbit:

1 whole rabbit (1 1/2kg) 
Bouquet garni of rosemary, sage, bay leaf, marjoram or origan.
The rabbit's liver

Make a 'soffritto' (the flavorings usually used as further flavourings, and which are the backbone of many Italian dishes):

onion, 
garlic 
chopped 
carrot, 
celery
 1/2 bell pepper (peperone), 
1 ripe tomato, cooked and blended with the other ingredients above.
1/2 wine glass vinegar, 
1 pinch sugar, 
1 lemon, peeled and sliced.

Mix together the ingredients above, and leave to marinade for 2 days.
After 2 days, take the rabbit out of the marinade and set to one side. Now add the liver to the marinade and cook gently until the liver is full cooked.

Next, take the rabbit and brown gently with lardons of pork fat sufficient, to brown the rabbit all over, and to dissolve the lardons leaving a delicate flavour of them.

Now take your braising pan. I have terracotta pots, they work very well, in the oven, on the hob, over an open fire etc. Put the rabbit, brown it all over to seal it, and  all the other ingredients in your pan of choice. If it goes a bit dry, just add some more of the marinade liquid. 

The cooking liquid is also delicious with Tagliatelle. Many people do a 1st course with the tagliatelle, and a main course with the rabbit.

Hope you enjoy this!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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