Preparazione
Make the dough: mound the flour, crack in the eggs, and knead 10 minutes to a smooth, elastic ball. Wrap and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
15 minBrown the veal and pork in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Add the wine, cover, and braise gently until completely tender, about 50 minutes. Cool slightly.
60 minGrind or finely chop the meats with the squeezed spinach. Beat in the Parmigiano, one egg-sized spoonful of the braising juices, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. The filling should hold together like a soft paste.
15 minRoll the pasta into thin sheets (setting 7 of 9 on a machine). Work one sheet at a time, keeping the rest covered.
20 minPipe or spoon hazelnut-sized dots of filling in a row a finger above the long edge. Fold the edge over, press around each mound, then pinch firmly between each one: the plin. Cut along the row, then between the pinches with a fluted wheel.
30 minMelt the butter in a wide pan until it smells toasty; add the sage leaves and let them crisp. Keep warm off the heat.
5 minBoil the agnolotti in well-salted water until they float and the pinch is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Lift them into the sage butter with a little pasta water and swirl to gloss.
4 minServe immediately with more Parmigiano. In the Langhe, no sauce ever puddles on the plate.
Consigli dello Chef
- Squeeze the spinach hard: Water in the filling steams the pasta from inside and bursts the seams. Squeeze the wilted spinach until your hand aches, then squeeze again.
- The pinch seals the deal: Pinch hard enough to feel your fingers meet through the dough. A lazy plin opens in the pot.
- Tradition also serves plin in warm meat broth, or even on a napkin, nudi, to prove the pasta. Butter and sage is the family compromise.
