How To Make Noto Pasta

Would you like to cook Sicilian pasta and sauce like a Noto chef? I got that opportunity when I spent the day with Chef Maria Rita.

Ortigia Street Market

I met Maria and her son at Ortigia Street Market, open Monday through Saturday from 7am to 1pm and located around Vicolo Bagnara on Ortigia Island.

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The market is full of vibrant sights, sounds and smells. Even if you are not in the market - please excuse the pun - to buy anything it is fascinating place to explore.

Maria taught me who to buy from, what to buy and how to barter.

We stocked up with fresh ingredients for a day of cooking in the kitchen of her family home.

During the day, we baked fish, made canolli from scratch and prepared Sicilian pasta and sauce, which I will focus on in this blog.

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Sicilian Pasta

Do you know what makes Sicilian pasta unique compared to Italian pasta?

Italian pasta is made with flour and eggs, whereas Sicilian pasta is made with semolina flour and water!

Maria set me to work. I weighed out semolina flour and water and then began mixing them, adding a pinch of salt.

Once the ingredients were well mixed, I began kneading them on the worktop. Pasta is often needed on marble or stone because it can be cooler in temperature.

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Rolling Pasta

Once kneaded through, Maria invited me to roll a portion of pasta into a long, thin (approximately 0.5cm) sausage and then cut it into sections (approximately 1.5cm).

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The next step required much more skill than I had exercised to date!

Maria used the tried and tested learning approach for her young sous chef - firstly show, secondly share and thirdly support.

She placed a piece of rolled pasta on a gnocchi board and used a pasta scrapper to roll the pasta to give it a curl. It looked easy!

Now for my turn. Miraculously, the first one worked perfectly. Then, I must have tried too hard, as the next couple were a disaster and had to be re-rolled.

Before long, I was chatting with Maria and rolling pasta like I’d been doing all my life!

Once the pasta swirls were all made, it was time to let them dry while attention turned to the sauce.

Sicilian Pesto

What is the difference between Italian pesto and Sicilian pesto?

Italian pesto is green and made predominantly with pine nuts and fresh basil; in contrast, Sicilian pesto is red and made with almonds and tomatoes.

Maria had me weigh ingredients and blend them with a small electric mixer. She explained how she watched her mother mix their pesto by hand using a pestle and mortar. I'm glad for the days of gadgets.

Almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, pecorino cheese, olive oil, salt and chilli flakes to taste - blended together and done!

Plating Up

Everything was ready. The pasta was placed in boiling water for a few minutes. When cooked, it floats to the top of the water like God’s time.

The pasta was drained and gradually added to the pesto - never the other way around! This technique ensured that you never ran out of sauce!

A bottle of Sicilian wine was opened, and we sat to enjoy our handiwork. Oh my, does it taste extra good when you have made everything from scratch!

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Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

• 200g Selomina flour
• 100g water
• Salt

Method:

1. Mix Selomina and water
2. Pinch of salt
3. Knead
4. Roll
5. Leave to dry
   

Pesto Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 handfuls of almonds
• 300g tomatoes
• lots of basil leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 25g pecorino cheese
• 20g salt
• 5 glugs olive oil
• chilli flakes (to taste)

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients to the blender
2. Blend, blend and blend again
3. Season with chilli flakes to taste
   

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Instagram: Chef Maria Rita

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