Homemade Anellini Pasta Rings alla Pecorara Recipe from Abruzzo.
This vegetable rich traditional recipe from Abruzzo is for homemade anellini pasta rings dressed in a tomato sauce, sautéed vegetables and fresh ricotta! Of course, you can use other pasta instead.
Servings: 6
Calories: 499kcal
Ingredients
For Anellini pasta rings
- 150 g Italian 00 soft wheat flour (5oz) or all-purpose flour
- 150 g durum wheat semolina flour (5oz)
- 2 eggs (large)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
- 1 pinch salt
- warm water as required
For tomato sauce
- 400 g tomato pulp or passata (14oz) or canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 onion peeled and finely diced
- 2 carrots washed and finely diced
- 1-2 celery stalks washed and finely diced
- 200 g fresh ricotta (sheep's milk or cow's milk) (7oz) drained
- 50 g Pecorino Romano grated (optional as not vegetarian)
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
Sautéed vegetables
- 1 eggplant washed and cubed
- 2-3 zucchini (courgettes) washed and cubed
- 2 sweet peppers (bell peppers) washed and cubed
- 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
- 8 fresh basil leaves washed and dried
Instructions
Start the pasta rings
- Combine the flours and eggs in a bowl or on a work surface using a fork and then your hands. Add a pinch of salt and olive oil and mix until you have the start of a dough adding warm water as required. Turn the dough out onto a pastry board if starting in a bowl. Knead until it’s soft and pliable and no longer sticky. Form the dough into a smooth ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in a cool place for 30-60 minutes.
Make the tomato sauce
- Chop the celery, carrot and onion finely (I use my food processor) and sauté them in olive oil for 5-10 minutes. Add the passata and cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and then add the ricotta and mix. I set some ricotta aside to add to plates before serving.
Sauté the other vegetables
- Wash and cut the other vegetables into cubes and sauté them in olive oil with a peeled and crushed garlic clove. Cook for about 10 minutes until they are soft and slightly browned. Add salt to taste and either set aside on kitchen paper to drain off the olive oil or add to the tomato sauce.
Make the anellini pasta rings
- Cut off a piece of the dough. Roll it out into a 3-4 mm (⅛ Inch) thick ‘snake’, cut into 5-6 cm (2.5”) pieces, wrap each piece around your index finger and seal the ends together to form a ring. I wet my fingers to do this. Place the ready pasta rings on a floured tray or surface. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Finish and serve
- Cook the pasta rings in boiling salted water until al dente. Cooking times will depend on the size and thickness of the rings. Mine took 12 minutes. Test taste before draining.
- Add the drained pasta to the tomato and ricotta sauce. Add some grated pecorino or vegetarian hard cheese and fresh basil. Mix together well and plate with sautéed vegetables and more fresh ricotta. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can serve this sauce with other types of pasta. I think it would go really well with orecchiette or cavatelli, especially if they are homemade.
Italian pecorino isn’t actually vegetarian as it contains animal rennet. Strict vegetarians can leave it out or use a vegetarian hard cheese.
It's easy to freeze the pasta rings and cook them from frozen. Place them spread apart on a tray in the freezer. Transfer to a freezer bag once frozen. Don’t keep the fresh pasta rings in the fridge as the humidity there will make them sticky and soft. You can leave them in a cool dry place if cooking later the same day or even the next day.
This recipe makes enough pasta and sauce to serve 6 medium portions or 4 very generous ones!
Nutrition
Calories: 499kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 935mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 5421IU | Vitamin C: 74mg | Calcium: 219mg | Iron: 5mg