(Orecchiette = "little ears", and I owe the title of this post to Jeremy)
We were very grateful to our neighbor when, over a month ago, he told us to help ourselves to as much broccoli as we wanted from his garden: he had over-planted, and had also got a spectacular yield this winter, which meant far too much broccoli for his family to eat. We only eat vegetables and fruit that are in season, and at this time of year broccoli (and cabbage) is what the land offers. However, we've never had so much broccoli in such a short time, and I ended up trying some experimental cooking to use it.
It wasn't always a huge hit. But we reached a new low the day I concocted a broccoli, garlic and haricot bean soup: that evening, as Rebecca sat down at the dinner table, she covered her nose with both hands and announced that there was a bad "garbage" smell in the kitchen. And since I was unwise enough to burst out laughing, the boys felt authorized to expand and embroider on Rebecca's comment, and ... well, suffice to say that I did not make broccoli and haricot bean soup again.
And so I went back to cooking our family's favorite broccoli dish: orecchiette con i broccoli, a traditional pasta dish from the southern Puglia region. Orecchiette ("little ears") are something of a specialty pasta, and after weeks of buying it, it occurred to me that I could simply make it myself. I often make tagliatelle and lasagne, rolling out and cutting the sheets of pasta with a little hand-cranked pasta machine, but I'd never made any other type of pasta before. I was surprised how easy (and inexpensive) it is.
All you need is regular and durum wheat flour, and some water. Here is a fairly good how-to guide in English (don't be intimidated by the initial statement that "it takes experience, ability and practice" - it doesn't!).
And, to be honest, once I got used to the idea that I could make pasta without a machine, I realized that what I most enjoyed about it was making it exclusively by hand, with no mechanical tools at all!
