Mediglia is a small village in the countryside just outside Milan. Here, in an old renovated farmhouse, Margaret Dini welcomes us who, for the occasion, has organized a real gastronomic meeting. Her cousins Giusi and Silvana are there, "summoned” to help her cook the family dishes. For the occasion, they also brought along sbrisolona, a crumbly almond cake found in Mantova, a city in Lombardy.
Who’s the nonna? "It's me, it's me,” Dini introduces herself. “Even though I am only 56 years old and am still waiting for my grandchildren. My daughter is 36 and she still doesn’t think about it. Meanwhile, she is learning to cook the recipes treasured by my cousins and me."
Dini rolls up her sleeves to get ready to knead, on a wooden plank made to measure by a carpenter. On the table are herbs, eggs, flour, Parmigiano – a taste of Emilia-Romagna. “In fact, I'm from Emilia,” she confirms, “even though I live in Domodossola. But during the week I am here in Mediglia with Andrea, my brother."
Margaret Dini (ph Giacomo Bretzel)
“We recently lost our sister, my twin. So we try to support each other,” she tells us. As she makes the pasta, her cousins take care of the potato and leek pie. You can see the dough take shape in Margaret's hands – you can see innate wisdom.
“For us, pasta is a religion, I learned from my mother and my grandmother, I could make it with my eyes closed.” She doesn't need scales and only weighs the ingredients because I asked for the measurements. In the end, we wait for Andrea Elvis, her brother who "would not miss a bite of tortelli for the world."
We open a bottle of Lambrusco and sit down together to taste the goodness of the past. "We had fun, a ray of sunshine in a difficult moment," Margaret confides to me when we leave: a little culinary magic.
Potato and leek pie
What you need for 8-10 people:
2 ⅔ lb. potatoes
2 lb. leeks
10 oz. ricotta
7 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano DOP 30 months
1 large egg
nutmeg
breadcrumbs
butter
extra-virgin olive oil
Cook the whole potatoes in their skins, starting from cold water, for about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the leeks and let them braise slowly in a pan with 2 Tbsp. oil, a knob of butter and a pinch of salt for 35-40 minutes.
Mash the potatoes, and add a pinch of nutmeg. Mix with the leeks, ricotta, beaten egg, and grated Parmigiano. Grease a 12″-round cake pan with oil, sprinkle it with breadcrumbs, and fill with the mixture, distributing it evenly.
Strip it on the surface, place a few flakes of butter here and there and bake at 335°F for around 1 hour.
Cut into small pieces and serve.
Potato and leek pie (ph Giacomo Bretzel)
Tortelli with herbs
"How many tortelli in a serving ?" I ask Dini.
“Don't make me count," she responds. "Anyway, the next day leftovers are sautéed in the pan with the butter. A crust forms and they are fantastic. As soon as they're ready, they're topped with butter that's been melted in a double boiler, not toasted. And I don't use sage, which is typical in Piacentino. And the pasta should be a little thickness to it, it shouldn't be paper-thin like cappelletti dough.”
Ingredients 6-8 people
1 lb. flour
12 oz. ricotta
7 oz. herbs
5 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano DOP 30 months
4 large eggs
nutmeg
butter
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Mix the flour with 3 large eggs, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of oil. Work for a long time until uniform. Let it rest covered for around 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: blanch the herbs for 2 minutes in boiling water, drain and squeeze them. Chop them, add salt and mix with ricotta, a pinch of walnut, Muscat, 1 beaten egg, 4 oz. grated Parmigiano, a pinch of salt, and nutmeg.
Roll out the dough in sheets not too thin 3-5″ high, arrange the filling into large walnuts and fold over the pastry. Press it around the filling to let the air out. Cut out rectangular tortelli with a notched wheel – you will get it about 60. Cook them in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes and serve with melted butter and grated Parmigiano.
Herbs tortelli (ph Giacomo Bretzel)