Rachel Roddy - An A-Z of Pasta : Recipes for Shapes and Sauces, from Alfabeto to Ziti, and Everything in Between: A Cookbook

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Alfabeto

There are just 21 letters in the Italian alphabet, no J, K, W, X or Y. Less to remember, but frustrating if you are called Joy, because searching for your name is integral to eating a bowl of broth with letters.

There is no better way to begin this AZ than with alfabeto, tiny pasta in the shape of letters. Surely invented to engage children, and considered by some a gimmick, alfabeto is made of durum wheat and water. It is a pastina , part of a huge family of tiny shapes that includes puntini (dots), stelline (stars), tempestine (little storms), anelli (rings), fregula (balls) and quadrucci (little squares), some of which we will meet later in the alphabet. Unlike other small shapes that hold their own in soups, alfabeto really are tiny. Smaller than a currant or a crumb picked up with a damp finger, they stand up to nothing! And why should they, when they are best in a bowl of broth.

To write about alfabeto, or any pastina , is to write about Italian brodo , as the two are inseparable. Closer to consomm than stock, brodi are liquids to which meat or vegetables, or both, have given flavor, and of course come in cubes and granules too. Several pasta shapes are served in brodo, the most famous being belly-button meat-filled tortellini, which we will come to later. Whatever the form, the pasta is cooked directly in the brodo , and sometimes grated Parmesan is swirled in at the end, which clouds and enriches. While alfabeto suspended in brodo is something given to children, it is by no means just for children. It is a simple joy, although dont expect to find Joy in it.

Alfabeto in brodo

Serves 4

Bring 1 quart of vegetable or chicken broth (see ) to a boil, add 7 ounces (200g) of alfabeto and cook until al dente, which takes 47 minutes depending on the brand. Ladle into bowls, passing round grated Parmesan. Alfabeto can be substituted with any pastina . Spaghetti or dried tagliatelle snapped into short lengths are also lovely in broth.

Golden vegetable broth

Makes about 7 cups of broth

First up, I should note how much I like granules and cubes. But when I do make this vegetable broth, I am never not surprised at how good it is, the essence of vegetables and, as the name suggests, golden, thanks to the onion skins. To my mind all broths need salt added at the start in order to cook properly, but if you dont agree, add it at the end.

2 onions, unpeeled, halved

4 stalks of celery, quartered

3 carrots, peeled and quartered

1 small bulb of fennel, quartered

1 medium potato, peeled and halved

5 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bay leaf

5 black peppercorns

3 cloves

salt

Put all the ingredients into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot and cover with 2 quarts of cold water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Using a slotted spoon, skim off any froth or residue that has risen to the surface (dont worry too much about getting every bit), then cover the pot and simmer gently for 1 hours.

Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down on the vegetables to extract every bit of flavor. Taste and add more salt if you think it needs it.

A note about salt

There are two pots of salt by the stove. One of sale grosso, coarse, rubbly sea salt ideal for salting pasta water, in it a spoon that holds almost exactly 2 teaspoons (10 grams). The other pot is of sale fino, fine salt, also sea salt, for everything else. I am a great believer in adding little, often , that is, adding tiny, cautious pinches of salt throughout cooking, which is inextricably tied to the other cooking advice to live by, taste, taste, taste .

Brodo di pollo

Chicken broth

Makes 2 quarts of broth

Chicken broth, not too clear or strained of fat, is one of my great pleasures and soothers. This is my mother-in-laws recipe, although she removes the chicken skin. Again salt at the start is important, and the simmering must be calm and steady. The chicken will have given much by the end of cooking. But not allthe poached meat can, and should, be pulled from the bone and eaten with mustard or salsa verde or another herb pesto.