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<\/p>\nMichael Tusk, renowned chef of three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco, and its more casual next-door neighbor, Cotogna, says that a single bowl of pasta altered the course of his career.<\/p>\n
As he visited Italy\u2019s Piedmont region during the 1990s, Tusk dined at Da Guido Costigiole, a restaurant that has since earned a Michelin star. At the time, it was run by three brothers and their mother, Lidia.<\/p>\n
Known by locals as the \u201cagnolotti angel,\u201d according to Tusk, Lidia made an especially delicate version of the pasta.<\/p>\n
Common in northwestern Italy, agnolotti are small parcels of pasta dough filled with meat and vegetables and pinched together. In Tusk\u2019s version, which follows tradition, there\u2019s roasted pork, veal, and rabbit mixed with carrot, escarole, leek or onion, and rosemary or sage, all ground together with a touch of Parmigiano-Reggiano.<\/p>\n
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Credit: Courtesy of Cotogna<\/p>\n
When Tusk opened Quince in 2003, he added agnolotti to the opening menu at $18. Guests could not get enough. He would sell as many as 100 orders per day, and dedicated one cook to making the dish to meet demand.<\/p>\n
In 2010, he opened Cotogna, a more rustic, casual sibling to Quince. He felt that the agnolotti belonged there. On the menu, it now reads \u201cAgnolotti Del Plin \u20182003,\u2019\u201d in reference to the original version, and sells for $34.<\/p>\n
The pasta dough starts with finely ground 00 flour, egg yolk for color, and whole eggs for water content. The agnolotti are cooked for a mere four to four-and-a-half minutes to achieve just the right amount of bite. The roasted meat and vegetable filling bursts with flavor, and the \u201csugo,\u201d or sauce, that it\u2019s served in is velvety smooth.<\/p>\n