Abruzzo’s Lamb Ragu and Pasta alla Chitarra

Iconic Pasta alla Chitarra with Lamb Ragu makes for delicious Sunday family suppers

Lamb Ragu is the standard among pasta sauces in Italy’s Abruzzo, paired with the region’s iconic Pasta alla Chitarra which is made by pressing sheets of pasta dough through what resembles strings on a device that looks much like a country guitar.  In fact, the word chitarra in Italian means “guitar”.  My grandmother, who immigrated to the US from Abruzzo, made this dish nearly every Sunday and the entire family devoured more than our share of it.  Made as it is, the pasta noodles make for an exceptional dish because they are square-sided as a result of being passed through the “guitar” strings.  This enables the sauce to cling more completely and yields a richer dish than than one using typical pasta noodles which have rounded sides.  And, of course, the Ragu itself lends a wonderful tastiness to the dish overall.

As a girl, I was lucky enough  to be my grandmother’s pasta making helper and to learn the technique for making this iconic dish.  Although my grandmother’s chitarra device was hand-made, today they can be gotten online easily and the process itself is very simple once the pasta dough is made and rolled out into sheets.

I decided to focus on this dish for my contribution to the current roundup of the Cook the Books reading/cooking group because Stanley Tucci devotes quite a bit of attention to Ragu in his memoir “Taste, My Life Through Food”.  Tucci, actor, writer and all-around engaging screen personality, is a food obsessive like me, and his depictions made for very entertaining reading.  He writes just like he speaks on film, and one can just hear his voice as the sentences roll off the page.  This book is a rollicking recounting of his eating adventures, with a smidgen of personal history thrown in and I highly recommend it. 

Especially captivating are Tucci’s depictions of meals enjoyed by him over the years.  Of Ragu, he says, “Ragu is eaten with fresh pasta, the reason being that the richness of the sauce needs a pasta of suitable shape and texture to absorb it properly.” Of the sauce itself, he marvels that it was initially recorded as a recipe by Pellegrino Artusi in the late 1800’s, calling Artusi’s rendition a world-famous sauce and the basis for the countless varieties seen today.  Like my grandmother, Tucci’s grandmother’s family served pasta with Ragu every Sunday as he was growing up.  He says, “It was the aroma of this Ragu that I awakened to practically every Sunday morning of my childhood.  Even today, when I am with my parents on Sunday, this is the traditional meal we share.”

Although in the book Tucci goes on to provide his family’s “famous” Ragu recipe, I’ve chosen to focus instead on grandmother’s take on the traditional sauce, and to provide her tutorial for the pasta chitarra as well.  Enjoy!

This is my contribution to the current cycle of Cook the Books.  Many thanks to Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, who is organizing the contributions for this go-round.




Abruzzo’s Pasta Alla Chitarra with Lamb Ragu
Ingredients:
For the Ragu:
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
3 slices pancetta cut into small cubes
1 medium onion diced
1 celery stick chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 ½ pounds mixed ground lamb (or veal, pork, beef mix)
1-28 oz can plus 4 oz whole tomatoes chopped finely with juice
½ cup dry white wine
Chicken broth (enough to cover ingredients)
1 tsp salt and ½ tsp ground pepper
Red pepper flakes to taste
Small bunch whole parsley with stems tied together

For the Pasta:
¼ cup semolina (durum wheat) flour, plus more for sprinkling
2+ cups as needed unbleached all-purpose flour
4 extra-large eggs
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp fine sea salt

Preparation:
For the Sauce:
Hint – it’s helpful to start the sauce prior to making the dough.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole.  Saute the pancetta until golden and remove with a slotted spoon.  Set aside.  Saute onion, celery and carrots for several minutes, adding the garlic near the end.  Add the meat, saute until lightly browned.  Return pancetta to casserole.  Turn up heat, add wine and allow to cook off a little.  Add seasoning including red pepper flakes and bunch parsley. 

Add the tomatoes and juice.  When bubbling, add enough chicken broth to cover ingredients.  Allow to cook covered for 30 minutes or longer until sauce reaches desired thickness, stirring several times.   Remove parsley and discard. 

For the Pasta:
In a food processor, combine dry ingredients.  Break the eggs into the flour mixture.  Pulse briefly then add oil.  Pulse until pea-shaped chunks form.  Turn mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead for five or more minutes, folding in half frequently and giving a half turn each time. The dough should be smooth and should not cling to your hands.  Additional dusting with flour may be needed while kneading.  If there is time, cover and let rest for up to 30 minutes at room temperature.    Cut the dough into 4 pieces and wrap three of them tightly with plastic wrap while working on the 4^th piece of dough.  Roll it into a 3-4 inch rectangular shape of medium thickness.  Using a pasta machine, put the dough through several times at each thickness setting, folding in half each time, going up to the number 4 setting until about 1/8^th inch thick.  Dusting the dough with semolina flour each time will be helpful.  Cut each sheet into a length just short of the length of the chitarra strings.

Lay each sheet of stretched dough on top of the chitarra strings.  Using a rolling pin, roll back and forth over the dough until the noodle strands drop through.  Place the noodles onto a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with semolina either in nests or straight noodles.  Cover with a clean dry towel and repeat for each sheet of dough.