In the south of Sicily in the countryside of Licata, we spent a day learning to roll fresh pasta with Nonna Ciccina in her outdoor garden. Cooking up a taiano is a real process, usually reserved for feasting days like New Year’s or Ferragosto (the very special saint’s day of 15th August).
First Ciccina prepared the pasta dough, returning to knead and roll hundreds of intricate individual pieces of strozzapretti (you can of course, just use a good-quality shop-/deli-bought pasta), before moving on to the many individual components that make up the layers of a traditional Sicilian, pasta al forno (oven- baked pasta).
After five hours of preparation, countless stages and continual poking of the traditional wood- fired oven from an impatient Ciccina, the taiano was ready. What we were not counting on was the entire tray being dropped on the floor by her son-in-law before it even reached the table. We saw the funny side, but tensions in the family were at an all-time high. She was not a happy Nonna.
Thankfully, our photographer, Ella, is vegetarian and we’d made a spare veggie tray for her, so no harm done.
Feeds 4–6
Takes 1 hour 40 minutes
Ingredients
5 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
100g peas, fresh or frozen (optional)
700g passata
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
500g cauliflower, cut into small florets and boiled with a pinch of salt until soft, and chopped up
3 eggs, 2 hard boiled and 1 whisked to pour over before cooking
400g strozzapreti pasta (or another good- quality dried pasta)
125g ricotta
3 eggs: 2 hard-boiled and 1 whisked to pour over before cooking
50g parmesan
Method
For the sugo (tomato sauce): heat a glug of olive oil in a large lidded pan and fry half the chopped onion and half the carrot until soft and golden. Stir in the peas and a couple of pinches of salt for 1 minute.
Add the passata, then fill the empty container/s with water and add this to the pan as well. Add a good grind of salt and black pepper, and a pinch of sugar to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes if it needs it.
Add the basil leaves, leaving a few to garnish, if you like. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer with the lid on. Allow to simmer for 1an hour while you prepare the other layers of the dish.
For the cauliflower: heat a glug of olive oil in another pan and fry the other half of the onion and carrot until soft. Add your pre-boiled cauliflower florets, drizzle in more olive oil and cook on a low heat for 3–4 minutes until it has soaked up the oil. Take off the heat, season and set aside.
For the pasta: Boil water for your pasta and add salt (Ciccina says don’t add oil!). Wait until it’s bubbling away before you add the pasta and cook 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the packet to ensure it’s al dente. Drain the pasta, keeping a ladleful of cooking water to help your pasta bind with the sugo better.
Preheat oven to 200°C/180 fan°C fan/gas 6.
Now for the layering: drizzle a 20 x 30cm tray with olive oil followed by a layer of pasta and a ladle of sugo to cover, then crumbled fresh ricotta, crumbled cauliflower florets and sliced boiled egg.
Then repeat, until your tray is full. Finish with a hefty grating of parmesan, black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and the whisked egg poured over your tray of ingredients before it goes in the oven for 30 minutes.
When it’s caramelised on top, remove from the oven carefully and serve with more parmesan, the reserved basil leaves (if using) and a good Italian vino.
