Recipe: Pisarei e Fasò

Pisarei e faso’ is the most traditional dish of the Piacenza cuisine: small gnocchi in a sauce of beans and lard. Nutritious and very tasty, this recipe is quite simple. We will give you instructions to prepare pisarei from scratch, with water and flour, which does require some time, but you can also buy pisarei and only make the sauce.

DIFFICULTY: low
TIME REQUIRED: an hour and a half

INGREDIANTS: for 6
Flour ( this recipe proposes wholewheat flour ) 400 grams
Breadcrumbs 150 grams
Warm water 350 – 400 ml aprox..
Pinch of salt
1 Onion
Piece of butter
Lard 80 grams
White cannellini beans or borlotti beans 500 grams
Tomato sauce 200 ml.
Grated parmigiano reggiano: as much as required
Extravirgin olive oil: a spoonful

PREPARATION

Begin with the preparation of pisarei:

1. Place the wholewheat in a large glass bowl.

2. Add breadcrumbs and mix well.

3. Make a hole at the center of the flour and pour in warm water a bit at a time until a soft mixture is obtained. If it is too sticky, add flour.

4. Add salt ( without exaggerating ) cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour.

5. At this point work the dough and make cylinders with half a centimetre diameter. Slice the cylinders into small pieces to obtain small gnocchi and make a small hole in the middle of each with your finger.

6. Now prepare the sauce. Finely mince the onion.

7. Cut the lard into small cubes.

8. Slowly saute’ the onion in butter and olive oil for a few minutes and then add the lard cubes and mix.

9. When these ingredients have mixed well and the onion has reached the right blond color, add the tomato sauce, mix well and add the beans.

10. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pisarei one by one making sure they do not stick to each other. When they float to the top they are ready. Take them out of the pot with a skimmer and place them in the pan with the sauce and beans. Saute’ for a few minutes. Serve with parmigiano reggiano and olive oil.

11. We suggest you match this typical Piacenza dish with a wine of the area: our Gutturnio Frizzante DOC Podere Casale.