Maltagliata Con Cocoa Cinghiale

(Pasta strips with chocolate wild boar ragu) Courtesy Soerke Peters, chef-owner, Mezzaluna Pasteria & Mozzarella Bar in Pacific Grove

For German-born chef Soerke Peters, his relationship to pasta began when he arrived in New York City in the early 1990s and worked under renowned Italian chef Pino Luongo. “It was mostly Tuscan cuisine and I just fell in love with it. People think it’s so easy to cook pasta, but it’s really not,” he says.

A pivotal pasta moment for him was when Luongo showed him how to cook spaghetti A.O.P.—which translates to spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino. “It’s really the simplest dish in the world, just extra virgin olive oil, salt, chili flakes and number 12 dry spaghetti. It was such a beautiful dish, so simple but so good. I cooked it many times at home myself,” Peters says. Yet his favorite dish to eat appears on the Mezzaluna menu, actually in tribute to his time in New York; it’s called Rigatoni alla Buttera, with sweet and spicy sausage, garlic, cream and fresh peas. “It’s my favorite, but I shouldn’t eat it every day,” says chef Peters, who offers us this very hearty, wintertime recipe that incorporates wild boar with chocolate.

2 to 3 pounds wild boar shoulder (cut into 1½-inch cubes) Flour 4 tablespoons grapeseed or sunflower oil 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 cup carrot, diced to ¼ inch 1 cup celery, diced to ¼ inch 1 cup onion, diced to ¼ inch 4 cups dry red wine 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 8 juniper berries ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon Salt and fresh black pepper to taste 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (preferred Reggiano 24 month)

Take the cubed wild boar and lay it out on a paper towel so that it gets nice and dry. Then toss in a bit of flour to coat.

Use a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot and bring it up to medium high heat. Add the grapeseed or sunflower oil to the Dutch oven, then add the meat cubes nicely spaced out. (We use this oil since it does not burn at a higher temperature and does not change the flavor profile.) Don’t stir or touch it until nice golden brown then move the cubes to brown them evenly on each side, if possible. Transfer the meat to a bowl, discard the excess oil, then return the pot to the stove. Add the olive oil, chopped garlic and diced vegetables and brown lightly. Return the meat to the pot and combine, then add the wine and all the other ingredients except the chocolate. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, then add a bit of water to cover the meat by about 1 inch.

Cover the pot with a lid and put it in the oven at 375° F for about 2 hours.

Take out the pot, stir in the chocolate and let it rest for a bit. Now is a good time to taste it and make sure it has enough salt. Adjust as needed. If you warm up the ragu again the next day, be careful not to burn it due to the chocolate. Keep stirring it gradually until it is hot enough.

Cook pasta and toss it with a good amount of ragu. Finish it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated cheese, to your liking. Serves 4.

To make maltagliata pasta strips

1 pound “00” flour (available in Mezzaluna’s retail section) 24 egg yolks

Make a well with the flour and add the yolk, mix with a fork until it gets dry enough to knead it by hand. Use a little water if it gets too dry. Use extra flour to knead it. You could use your Kitchenaid mixer with a hook attachment. The dough has to be firm to the touch and not sticky; use more flour if it is too wet.

Knead for about 10 minutes to activate the gluten. Form into a ball, cover it and let it rest for 1 hour. Roll out the dough and cut randomly into 2-inch squares. Don’t cut it into perfect shapes; it’s more fun if they are random. There are no wrong shapes here. Cook the pasta for about 3 minutes (no more than that) in boiling salted water just before serving. Remove from water and toss with the wild boar ragu. Bono enjoy!