Chestnut Fazzoletti is a traditional Italian recipe for a classic Christmas accompaniment of large pasta squares served with a sage butter and chestnut sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Italian version of: Chestnut Fazzoletti.
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Fazzoletti (literally the Italian for handkerchiefs) are large but fine squares of pasta that should fall like fabric on to a plate once cooked. They should be rustic and freeform in shape and do not need a pasta machine to make the dough; which means that anyone can make them. For Christmas, these fazzoletti are made with a blend of chestnut flour, 00 durum wheat flour and semolina.
This is served with a simple sage butter and chestnut sauce and is intended as an accompaniment. It makes a wonderful change to the usual potatoes.
Ingredients:
250g chestnut flour
250g 00 flour
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
100g semolina flour
100g unsalted butter
l bunch of sage, leaves picked
100g chestnuts, cooked, roughly chopped
dried chilli to taste
200g grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
lemon juice to taste
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil
Method:
In a bowl or food processor combine or pulse the flours together. Add the eggs and additional yolks and combine till the dough forms a ball.
Turn the mixture out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth, about 10-15 minutes. Lightly dust the dough with semolina. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Dust a clean work surface with semolina flour and grab a rolling pin and large baking tray. Divide the dough in half, keeping one half covered. Roll the dough to the thickness of heavy paper and cut it into large squares of roughly similar sizes, so they cook evenly. Dust any excess semolina flour off, lay them on the prepared baking tray and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and add the sage leaves.
Place a large pot of salted water over a high heat and wait until it comes to a rolling boil. Once the water begins to boil add the pasta. Cook it for 1 minute until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water.
Stir the chestnuts, dried chilli and parmesan into the buttery sage sauce with a ladleful of pasta water.
Add the pasta to the sage butter pan and adjust the sauce thickness by adding more pasta water if needed. Season to taste with the lemon juice, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil, as needed. Swirl around the pan until glossy for a minute or so before dividing between plates and scattering over more parmesan.
