Weekend a NARNI dove il Medioevo rivive, la tavola festeggia, i 'manfricoli' trionfano

Welcome to Narni, province of Terni in Umbria, Italy
An ancient Roman fortress, it was formerly called Narnia and was celebrated in the novels of C.S. Lewis and in the film “The Chronicles of Narnia”. Today it winds through squares, shops, alleys, stairways and incomparable panoramic views, among which the most suggestive is found in the direction of the bridge over the Nera, where you can admire the majestic surviving arch of the Augustus Bridge, built in the 1st century BC.

Narni is famous for THE RACE OF THE RING that until mid-May dresses the city and the visitors in the Middle Ages outfits and with the time machine catapults its atmosphere and its streets back to 1371, the year which inspired the 55th edition of the Corsa all’Anello, one of the most extraordinary historical re-enactments of the Medieval Umbria, a palio where the best Knights of the area had to gallop into a small iron ring suspended in the air with a spear.

Narni’s cuisine is robust, tasty and nutritious, with Fraportana-style gnocchetti chops, roast pork, roast pork sausages, roast livers, prince’s shin, salad and sautéed chicory. Many local products, such as truffles, lentils from Castelluccio, cured meats and sausages, traditional sweets, such as the Easter ciaramicola, the mixed dough, the delicious cheese cakes and the torta al testo, stuffed with local capocollo. An excellent EVO oil from moraiolo, leccino, frantoio is also born from this green area.

The real kings of the table are the manfricoli, made of hand-made pasta, mixed with water and flour, cooked al dente and seasoned with savory sauces and served in many different styles, from fraportana, to princely, to wild boar.
Obviously the manfricoli alla narnese dominate, the main dish on the menu of Il Fondaco, located in the historic center.. We are welcomed by the Chef ……… who, with the help of the exuberant Mariana, offers typical dishes of the lower Umbrian cuisine including traditional manfricoli alla Narnese.

Do you want the recipe? Here you go!

I MANFRICOLI “TRADITIONAL STYLE”

Ingredients for 4 people
400gr of flour
50gr of DOP olive oil from Umbria
salt
Preparation
Mix 400 g of flour with 50 g of extra virgin olive oil, an egg and a little salt to obtain a soft and elastic dough
After letting the dough rest for about half an hour, cut the dough with a rolling pin
Cut large strips of dough which will be twisted around an iron rod (similar to a wool iron)
Wait half an hour and then cook them in plenty of salted water
The best dressing for “manfricoli” is a sauce made with garlic, oil, chilli pepper and cherry tomatoes, fried in a pan for just 15 minutes. If you like, pecorino cheese can also be added.
When manfricoli become “gourmet”
Federico Montecchiani and Giacomo Petti of the restaurant Il Fondaco offer a contemporary reinterpretation that still contains all the main elements of the original recipe, but with a special processing, starting with the pasta made with flour. water and parsley puree, while the cherry tomatoes are semi-dry and dried in the oven at 100 degrees for 3 hours. The garlic, blanched in milk, becomes a pleasant puree, while the sauce is a concentrated water extracted from the emulsion of vine tomatoes, datterini tomatoes, basil, carrots and celery and finally the parsley turns into a cloud that gives a boost from a chromatic point of view. Final “tradition”: a round of extra virgin olive oil
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Federico Montecchiani created the manfricoli “gourmet”

… AND IN THE GLASS?
For such a tasty dish, nothing better pairing with the famous Red of Umbria, with an intense aroma and that rightly tannic touch, also excellent with grilled meats, truffle omelette and cheese cake. Along the Montini road in an incredibly beautiful position, we will find the Santo Iolo vineyards with excellent Sauvignons, Syrahs and an impeccable Merlot, with ruby red and violet reflections, aromas of fruit, morello cherry and blackcurrant, spicy tones of vanilla, licorice and mineral notes of graphite in the finish