Pisarei e fasò (little dumplings with beans)

Method

Pisarei

1. 1 Bring the water and the milk to the boil together, put the flour on a board, open it out well and put the breadcrumbs in the middle (see the video at the end of the recipe). Open out the breadcrumbs too and pour the olive oil and the salt into the middle.
2. 2 Slowly pour the boiling milk and water over the breadcrumbs and scald them thoroughly, this step is very important so that the pisarei don't turn out hard.
3. 3 Work the breadcrumbs well with a wooden spoon, and when all the breadcrumbs are well combined with the milk and the water you can start working the dough with your hands, taking in the flour. If the dough turns out too dry you can add 1-2 tbsp of boiling water (don't use cold water), if instead it is too wet you can add a little flour. The type of breadcrumbs you use can change the consistency of the dough a lot.
4. 4 Leave the dough to rest for at least twenty minutes or so, wrapped in cling film, then shape some "biscie" – snakes – (…yes, that's what they call them in Piacenza) and finally form the pisarei with your fingers: tear off a little piece of dough and then press it onto the board with your thumb, rolling it under your thumb (have a look at the video, it's easier to follow the video than to explain it in words…).
5. 5 The pisarei are then cooked in salted water; for one portion count on about 150 g of pisarei. They freeze very well and they are not at all delicate, they are easy to handle.
6. 6 When they come to the surface carry on cooking for another 2-3 minutes, then drain them and add the sauce.

Sauce

7. 7 Boil the beans with a few bay leaves and a pinch of salt or some stock cube, the amount of beans is very much down to personal taste. If you have no frozen or fresh beans you can also use tinned ones; obviously the better the beans, the better the sauce.
8. 8 Halfway through cooking (here too you go very much by eye) drain the beans and set the cooking water aside.
9. 9 Fry the shallots, carrots and celery cut into small dice in a frying pan, add the beans and the bay (on top of the bay already cooked with the beans you can add another 2 fresh bay leaves, it gives a good flavour) and finally pour in the tomato passata.
10. 10 Add a little of the beans' cooking water and a little stock cube and cook for about twenty minutes.