Doughs:
Sauces:
What they are
Tender “olive leaves” with rugged bellies, an ode to the olive groves of Puglia, Sicily, and Calabria, though also found up north in Liguria. They’re orecchiette’s prettier cousins, made similarly but stretched flat so they can strike a pose on your plate. You’ll find both plain and green versions; I infuse flour and water dough with basil or spinach in summer, and saffron, beets, or red peppers in autumn.
How they’re traditionally served
In Puglia, with tomatoes, burrata, and chilies, or with mushrooms, seafood, and meat sauces; in Liguria, with fish, olives, and lemon.
MAKE THE DOUGH
Make your dough of choice and let it rest, tightly covered, at room temperature for 20 minutes.
SET UP YOUR WORKSPACE
Dust a sheet pan with semolina or line it with a dry dishcloth. Gather your tools.
ROLL THE DOUGH INTO A ROPE
Cut off a slice of dough, about the width of one or two fingers. Keep the rest covered.
Roll the dough into a thin rope, about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick, or the thickness of a pencil. Start in the center and use your fingers or the palms of your hands to roll the dough, first back and forth, until the surface is smooth, and then outward in opposite directions, eventually making your way toward the ends. If the dough slides and it’s difficult to get a grip, wet your hands a little and try again. The rope does not need to be perfectly even.
CUT THE DOUGH INTO PIECES
Cut the rope into 1½-inch (4-cm) pieces. Roll each piece back and forth between your hands, putting more pressure on the ends so they become tapered and the result looks like a squat green bean.
MAKE THE FOGLIE D’ULIVO
Position a piece of dough vertically, at a slight angle, on your work surface. Hold a table knife, preferably with a serrated edge, with your dominant hand and press it into the dough at the opposite edge (I’m left-handed, so I hold the knife in my left hand to start at the right edge).
Dig the knife into the dough, so it’s at a 30-degree angle to the work surface, then slowly begin to drag it outward in the opposite direction (so, in my case, I drag the dough from right to left). You want to feel the tension between the dough and the knife but still be gentle with the pressure so as not to tear the pasta.
Once the edge of the dough curls over the knife, use a couple of fingers from your non-dominant hand to peel it back and anchor the center part of the dough’s edge to the work surface. Then continue stretching the dough outward with the knife until you reach the opposite edge—as you go, scoot the non-dominant fingers inward, toward the center, so they don’t leave an imprint. The result should look like a leaf with a rough interior.
I’ll admit: This one takes practice. Play around with the orientation of the dough, the angle of the knife, and the amount of pressure to see what works best for you. Arrange the finished pasta in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining pieces, and then the remaining dough.
COOK THE PASTA
Cook the foglie d’ulivo until tender but with some bite, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on their thickness and drying time.
