Traditional dishes:

Trofie al pesto: pasta with pesto

Ingredients for 4

For the trofie
350 g flour
Salt

For the pesto
30 fresh basil leaves, washed and patted dry
200 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
30 g pine nuts
50 g Parmesan cheese, grated

To make the pasta, place the flour on a clean work surface and form it into a hillock shape, with a well in the middle. Add a good pinch of salt and enough tepid water to obtain a pliable dough. Pull very small pieces of the dough off and roll them with your thumb, one by one, along the work surface to form tiny twists of pasta.

Make the pesto by placing the fresh basil, the olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and a pinch of salt in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add the grated parmesan and whiz again until you have a well mixed cream. Cook the trofie in abundant boiling, salted water. Drain as soon as they are cooked al dente, reserving a little of the pasta water. Dress the trofie with the pesto, adding as much of the cooking water as necessary to obtain a creamy sauce. Serve immediately.

Coniglio alla ligure: rabbit Ligurian style

Ingredients for 4

1 rabbit, cut into small pieces
½ onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 sprig each of rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, finely chopped
50 g black olives
30 g pine nuts
Chilli pepper
1 glass dry white wine
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat a good drizzling of olive oil in a large terracotta pot and throw in the chopped onion, garlic and herbs. Stir them around for a couple of minutes then add the olives, the pine nuts and the pieces of rabbit. Cook until the rabbit has begun to get a little color, turning often so it browns evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine, let it evaporate a little then add half a glass of water, cover, and cook over a low heat until rabbit is tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Check seasoning and serve.

Pansooti con preboggion: stuffed Ligurian pasta

Ingredients for 4

For the pasta
400 g flour
Pinch salt
120 g water
2 tsp white wine

For the filling
700 g baby chard and borage
2 eggs
50 g grated Parmesan cheese
150 g ricotta
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt

For the walnut sauce
500 g walnuts with shells
50 g ricotta
50 g extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Slice of bread soaked in milk

50g butter for serving

Rinse the baby chard and borage and cook it in its own water until tender (5 – 10 minutes). Once cooked, squeeze out any extra moisture and chop finely. Put the chopped chard and borage in a bowl, and mix with the eggs, grated Parmesan, ricotta and minced garlic and salt to taste.

Prepare the pasta by mixing the flour and salt with the water and white wine and work until you have a smooth pliable dough. Roll out pasta either by hand or using a pasta machine until you have a very thin sheet of pasta. Cut out a series of 6 cm squares. Place a little ball of filling at the center of each piece of pasta and fold over one half of the pasta square to cover the filling and make a triangle shape. Press well along the two edges with your fingers to ensure pasta doesn’t open while cooking.

Prepare the walnut sauce by shelling the walnuts and blanching them for a minute or two in boiling water. Drain then peel off the thin skin that covers the nuts. Place the nuts in a food processor with ricotta and olive oil, a pinch of salt and the slice of soaked bread slightly squeezed of excess milk and whiz together.

Cook the pansooti in abundant salted boiling water and remove when they float to the top of the pan. Drain, toss with the butter and mix gently with the walnut sauce. Serve immediately.

Focaccia

Ingredients for 4

20 g fresh yeast
400 g flour
1 teaspoon fine salt
75 ml Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

Melt the yeast in a little tepid water. Place the flour in a bowl and stir in the fine salt. Pour in the oil and the yeast, and mixing quickly, add as much tepid water as you need to form a loose, smooth pliable dough. Kneed for two minutes then place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a clean damp tea towel and leave until it has doubled in size, approx. 1 – 2 hours. Punch the dough down and place it in a well oiled cookie sheet, pressing dough so it reaches into the corners. Cover again, and leave to rise for about another hour or so, after which press your fingers all over the surface of the focaccia to form small indentations, drizzle over the remaining oil and sprinkle with the sea salt. Bake in an oven preheated to 420ºF for about 20 minutes or until the surface is pale gold in color. Serve immediately or re-heat in a warm oven before eating.

Latte fritto: ‘fried milk’

Ingredients for 4

4 eggs, plus two egg yolks
150 g sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 liter whole fat milk
150 g flour
100 g breadcrumbs
Olive oil for frying
Icing sugar for decoration