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250 TRUE ITALIAN PASTA DISHES Easy & Authentic Recipes Inspired by Quartino Ristorante Pizzeria Wine Bar by John Coletta with Nancy Ross Ryan Robert Rose Inc. October 2009 $24.95/paperback full-color photography throughout ISBN-13: 978-0778802211 Back to book information Printer-friendly page

The combination of mortadella - Bologna's famous cooked pork sausage - and pistachios provides a nice flavor and textural contrast in this dish. I prefer skinless pistachios, but I realize the home cook would not take kindly to blanching and peeling the small nuts as we do at the restaurant. So I will settle for shelled pistachios, which will also give you a delicious result.

3 tablespoons (45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
12 paper thin slices mortadella (about 4 oz/125 g)
1 tablespoon (15 mL) salt
1 pound (500 g) dried fusilli, (see Variations)
1/4 cup (50 mL) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (175 mL) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
1/4 cup (50 mL) shelled chopped pistachios
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a covered pasta pot, over high heat, bring water to a boil.

Line a large platter, including the rim, with mortadella. Set aside.

Add salt and fusilli to the boiling water and cook, uncovered, over high heat until pasta is al dente. Scoop out about 1 cup (250 mL) of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, combine 1?2 cup (125 mL) of the reserved pasta water, butter, half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the fusilli. Using a wooden spoon, toss to coat evenly, adding more pasta water, if necessary. Add pistachios and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well.

Transfer to the mortadella-lined platter and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve immediately.

Tips
Mortadella comes with a plastic casing, which is often left on for slicing. Be sure to remove the casing before layering on the platter. I like to use unsalted butter in my recipes because it contributes fresh flavor without adding extra salt. I usually season my sauces in the initial stages of cooking so the flavors have time to bloom. I always taste the final product and, if necessary, add more salt and pepper just before serving.

Variations
Fusilli is a corkscrew-shaped pasta that catches sauce and holds it well.
Substitute penne or rotini for fusilli.
Substitute Mortadella with pistachios for plain mortadella.

Mortadella
If mortadella looks like American bologna, there are good reasons: It comes from Bologna, Italy, hence the slang name "baloney." The North American version is very different from the air-dried Italian original. American style garlic-flavored mortadella is closer to baloney with the addition of cubes of pork fat and black peppercorns. There are also excellent German mortadellas that also contain pistachios.