Spaghetti alla chitarra in endive sauce with Toscano extra virgin olive oil PGI, rasins and dried fruits.

Spaghetti alla chitarra in endive sauce with Toscano extra virgin olive oil PGI, rasins and dried fruits.

Ingredients for 4 people

For the spaghetti alla chitarra:

  • 400 g. double-milled durum wheat flour (semolina)+ a little bit more
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 spoon of Toscano PGI extra virgin olive oil
  • A pinch of salt
  • Water
  • Chitarra (a Pasta Guitar to cut fresh pasta into strands)

For the endive sauce:

  • 1 head of endive
  • 2 spoons of raisins
  • 2 spoons of almonds
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 4/5 basil leaves
  • Toscano PGI extra virgin olive oil

 

Preparation

Pour the flour in a bowl and knead with the eggs, a pinch of salt and the extra virgin olive oil.

Gradually incorporate some water, very slowly, and knead until the dough reaches a smooth and compact texture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough is ready cut it into 4 equal pieces, stretch one piece of dough to a rectangular strip of about ½ a cm and place one sheet on the pasta guitar. Use a small rolling pin to roll back and forth over the dough, pressing, first gently and then more firmly as you go, to cut through the dough. Tip out the noodles, sprinkle them liberally with semolina and set them on a clean surface covered with semolina. Cut the remaining sheets of pasta in the same way and set them on the semolina coated surface.

For the sauce:

Clean the outer leaves of the endive.

Bring some water to a boil and sear the leaves: after a minute remove the greener leaves and put them in a bowl with water and ice (to preserve the green color), then drain the rest.

Heat a spoon of extra virgin olive oil in a sauce pan and sauté the boiled endive leaves with half of the raisins, and half of the almonds (roughly minced) and the basil leaves, for a few minutes, adding some salt and pepper. Blend the sautéed leaves in a mixer until you obtain a smooth and silky cream, gradually adding some oil, to incorporate air until you obtain a foamy texture. Add the rest of the raisins and the almonds (roughly minced) to the cream.

Cook the “spaghetti alla chitarra” for 3 minutes in salted water and sauté them with half of the sauce in a saucepan. Garnish the plate with the rest of the sauce.