This is a pasta from region of Puglia in Italy. This pasta does has a lot of substance, almost  gnocchi-like, but there is no potato in it.

Making the pasta itself requires a little bit of practice. I saw the pasta first on a BBC documentary, called Italy Unpacked, then decided to make my own version.

This is a vegetarian dish. I am using bok choy to give it a strong and oriental flavour.

To make the pasta I strongly recommend consulting with youtube and practice until you make perfect… I am still working on mine. Here is one link, but there are lots more.

As per Giorgio Locatelli’s advice, do not spread flour on the board when you make the pasta, so the outside of pasta will have rough texture that permits the sauce to stick to it.

Ingredients

• 200 gm of type 00 or Samola flour. I usually use De Cecco, as it is the only brand I can get here.
• 200 gm of bok choy
• 3-4 sun-dried tomatoes
• a handful of walnut
• zest of lemon from a whole lemon
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• olive oil
• sea salt and pepper
• I added sesame seeds, but it became just too much of different tastes in my second run (as in the picture). I recommend not to mix too many ingredients.

How to make it

• Making Pasta
  • Make a little volcano with your flour. The flour in this picture is type 00. Samola has a yellow tinge.
  • Per 100 gm of pasta add about 25 ml of water and slowly mix the flour with water until it is all mixed.
  • Knead the dough until it is really smooth (6-10 min).
  • Add more water if the dough is too dry or more flour if it becomes too sticky.
  • You know the dough is ready when it neither sticks to your hand, nor does to the surface as you knead it.
  • Put the dough in a plastic wrap and let it settle for 30 minutes.
  • Take some of the dough at a time and make your pasta, but keep the rest in the plastic so the dough does not dry too much.
• Cooking Pasta
  • Bring a pot of water with a litre of water in it to boil and add some salt to it.
  • Bring a second pot of water with 500 ml of water to boil.
  • Add two tablespoon of sugar to the second pot.
  • Boil the pasta for 5 minutes and then remove the pasta onto a sieve.
  • In the second pot of boiling water blanch the bok choy for 30 seconds.
  • While you are waiting for the water to boil, cut the sun-dried tomatoes into strips.
  • Crush the walnuts to small pieces between your thumb and pointing finger.
  • Roast the walnut in a frying pan until its aroma is released.
  • Add olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes to the walnuts and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the bok choy and continue stir frying in olive oil for another 1-2 minutes, until bok choy is soft.
  • Add the pasta and lemon zest to fry for another 2-3 minutes.
  • Add a bit more olive oil and mix in the parmesan and serve.
  • Enjoy your meal.