Corzetti Stampati Agli Spinaci con Gorgonzola Dolce

Note: you’ll need a pasta maker and a corzetti stamp for this recipe.

Corzetti are cut using a most ingenious two piece wooden tool, la stampa. The bottom of one piece is used like a cookie cutter to cut a round piece of pasta. The top of the cutting piece and the bottom of the second piece are artfully carved and are used to imprint the pasta coins. After the initial pasta round is cut, it is pressed firmly between the two carved sides to produce an embossed design—an edible woodcut. The textured finish on the pasta is functional as well as beautiful, helping to hold the accompanying condimento, or sauce. For more on Corzetti Stampati and a photo essay, along with sources for the stamps, I invite you to visit the related blog link and see my series on this very unique pasta.

Thaw unwrapped spinach in a strainer set over a bowl. When thawed, squeeze spinach to remove as much liquid as possible. You should wind up with roughly 3/4 cups liquid, and a scant 4 ounces of spinach. Discard liquid.

Place drained spinach in the work bowl of your food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse 10 times to chop. Add flour. Pulse several times to combine thoroughly. Set aside for a moment.

Combine eggs, egg yolks and olive oil in a small measuring cup. Beat lightly. With processor running, pour all of the egg mixture through the feed tube. Scrape all of the egg mixture into the work bowl. Mixture will gather and form a ball, cleaning the sides of the work bowl. Process for 40 seconds. Turn dough out onto a floured board, knead briefly and wrap in plastic. Set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cut off 1/4 of the dough, keeping the unused portion wrapped. Roll the dough to #4 thickness on pasta machine. Lay out the strip of dough and cut the ‘coins’ out of it using a corzetti stamp.

Place cut corzetti on semolina or flour lined towels and cover until ready to cook. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bring 6 quarts water to a rolling boil. Add a generous 1/4 cup coarse sea salt. (You must salt the water generously – remember there is no salt in this pasta.) When water returns to the boil, drop corzetti in, stirring once. Cook briefly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, make sauce (see my TastyKitchen recipe for Gorgonzola Sauce.) Add corzetti to the pan, tossing to coat it with the sauce. Transfer to serving dish, top with chopped Italian parsley, and serve immediately