Recipe: Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Meatballs


Rossella and Nonna Theresa Mariotti serve up a classic Italian-American recipe of homemade spaghetti and meatballs.

The following recipe, prepared by Chef Rossella Rago, appears on CookingWithNonna.com.

Ingredients

Serves: 5

For the Spaghetti:

  • 2 cups fine Semolina
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Chitarra
  • rolling pin

For the Meatballs:

  • 1 pund chopped meat – mixed (veal, pork, beef)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
  • 1 cup grated pecorino cheese
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • fresh black pepper
  • milk, if necessary
  • frying oil

For the Sauce:

  • 56 ounces chopped or peeled tomatoes, pureed
  • 3 ouces tomato paste
  • 3 cloves garlic and one small onion, chopped and sauteed and then blended
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 basil leaves
  • peperoncino
  • fresh black pepper
  • salt
  • grated pecorino cheese

Directions

  1. Tool you need: Eppicotispai Chitarra Pasta Cutter
  2. Make the Spaghetti:
    1. In a bowl, add the semolina, the eggs and the water.
    2. Mix well until all the liquids are absorbed.
    3. Move the dough to a wooden board and knead for about 8-10 mins.  If the dough is too soft, add some semolina, if too dry, add some water.
    4. Cover the dough with plastic and set aside to rest for about 30 Mins.
    5. Once the dough has rested, take a small piece and flatten it with a rolling pin.
    6. You want the sheet of pasta to be about 1/8″.
    7. Place the sheet of pasta on the chitarra and with the rolling pin, cut it.
    8. Make sure you add some semolina at the bottom of the chitarra. Take all the spaghetti and move them on a tray with plenty of semolina.  Add more semolina over the spaghetti to prevent them from sticking to one another.
    9. Finish making all your spaghetti and set aside.
  3. Make the Meatballs:
    1.  In a large bowl add all the Meatballs ingredients and mix well. If the mix is too dry, add a little milk.
    2. Roll all the meatballs.  You can make them of any size you prefer.
    3. Heat up the frying oil and fry all the meatballs.  If you made the meatballs large, you may want to just brown them in the frying oil and finish cooking them in the sauce. Keeping them too long in the oil they may burn.
  4. Make the Sauce:
    1.  In a large pot, add the EV olive oil and the sauted garlic and onion. Let the oil get hot.
    2. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1-2 mins.
    3. Add the tomato sauce and stir.
    4. Add the bay leaves, basil and salt as desired.
    5. Add peperoncino and black pepper as desired.
    6. Let the sauce cook for about 5 mins. making sure that it is boiling for 2-3 mins.
    7. Add the meatballs, cover and cook for about 1 hour at low to mediun flame. Remove the cover for the last 15 mins.
    8. Cook the pasta in salted water, pour it in a serving bowl, add some sauce, some meatballs and  pecorino cheese, toss and serve.

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