Instructions
Knead flour and eggs into a firm dough; rest 30 minutes wrapped.
40 minMix lamb, beef, beaten egg, breadcrumbs, half the Pecorino, salt, and pepper. Roll into polpettine no bigger than a marble; cold hands help.
25 minSoften the onion and garlic in the oil with the chile; add the tomatoes, crushing them, and the basil. Simmer 15 minutes.
18 minSlide the polpettine raw into the simmering sauce and cook gently, uncovered, until tender and the sauce has thickened, about 25 minutes. Do not stir for the first 10; shake the pan instead.
25 minRoll the pasta to the thickness of the chitarra strings’ gap, lay each sheet on the chitarra, and press through with the rolling pin. (No chitarra: roll and hand-cut square-edged spaghetti.)
20 minBoil the chitarra in well-salted water, 2 to 3 minutes; it should keep a proud core.
3 minToss the pasta with the sauce in the pan, polpettine folded through, loosening with pasta water. Serve with the remaining Pecorino.
2 min
Chef's Tips
- Marble-sized means it: The charm of pallottine is eating five in a forkful. Anything bigger than a marble becomes a meatball dish from somewhere else.
- Poach, never fry, the polpettine: Raw into the sauce keeps them tender and lets the sugo drink the meat. Browning first builds a crust this dish does not want.
- The same chitarra carries lamb ragù bianco with rosemary in the mountains; keep the pasta, swap the sauce, and you have toured half of Abruzzo.
