Traditional peasant cooking is the foundation of even the most extravagant haute cuisine. Simple, thrifty recipes allow ingredients to speak for themselves rather than hiding them behind a mask of complex techniques and flavour combinations. Peasant cuisine is (more often than not) inherently low-waste, making the most of every last morsel. I like to take inspiration from these recipes, cutting down on waste by using whole ingredients within each dish – for example, not separating egg yolks to make pasta, unless the white has a place elsewhere in the same recipe.
Maltagliati is in its essence a classic zero-waste product, turning food that would otherwise have been wasted into a wondrous ingredient. The idea of this recipe is that it can be used to save any pasta scraps from a batch of pasta you’ve already made; however, in case you want to make pasta especially, I’ve included my recipe for wholewheat pasta from my cookbook, Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet, below.
Maltagliati soup with beans
Serves 2
For the wholemeal spelt pasta
70g spelt flour
70g semolina flour
15ml extra virgin olive oil
For the soup
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
50g guanciale, pancetta, or bacon lardons (optional)
1 small white onion, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 sprig rosemary
2 tsp tomato puree
400g tin borlotti beans, including the cooking liquid
400ml stock or water (one refilled bean tin)
100-200g maltagliati pasta
Parmesan, to taste
To make the pasta, pour the flour and oil into a blender, turn it to a medium setting then slowly pour in 55ml water. Blend for 30 seconds or until it forms a ball. Turn on to the work surface and knead for five minutes. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Place in a tub in the fridge for 30 minutes or longer.
Roll the dough using a pasta machine, following the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t have a pasta machine, there are lots of shapes you can make simply with your hands and a rolling pin. Once rolled out, cut into your roughly shaped maltagliati, squares and triangles.
To make the soup, heat a heavy-based pan over a medium heat with one tablespoon of olive oil and the optional 50g of diced guanciale, pancetta or bacon lardons. Stir for a few minutes until browned then remove the meat from the pan and put to one side. Add the onion, celery and garlic, then gently saute for five minutes. Next add the sprig of rosemary, tomato puree, beans with their cooking liquid and stock or water. Bring to a simmer and cook until it reduces to a thick soup. Mash some of the beans to make the sauce extra creamy then, when you’re ready to eat, if using, add the meat back in with 100-200g of fresh maltagliati pasta and boil for three minutes. Season and serve with parmesan and olive oil to taste.
