Chitarra Pasta al Centenaro con Pallottine

Overview

The quintessential Abruzzese Sunday pasta: spaghetti alla chitarra (square-sectioned pasta cut on a wire-strung wooden instrument) served with a slow-cooked sugo di carne featuring tiny lamb or pork meatballs (pallottine). The chitarra's square cross-section holds sauce differently from round spaghetti — more surface area per bite. The pallottine are no larger than a hazelnut, browned in lard and simmered in tomato sauce for 90 minutes until swollen with flavour.

Flavour Context

Square-cut pasta with greater surface area than round spaghetti, blanketed in a tomato sauce enriched by tiny browned meatballs — the canonical Abruzzese Sunday table

Key Principles

{"Dough: semolina and 00 flour in equal measure, whole eggs only (no water) — stiffer than standard pasta","Roll to exactly 3mm (same as the wire spacing on the chitarra) — too thin and they collapse through","Press the chitarra frame down on the sheet and rock forward with a rolling pin — the wires cut, not press","Pallottine: 50% lamb, 50% pork mince, moistened with a single crumble of stale bread soaked in milk","Brown pallottine very hot in lard to develop a crust before adding to the tomato sauce"}

Pro Tips

{"The chitarra wires must be re-tuned like a guitar string — check tension before use","A scrape of sheep's milk pecorino di Farindola on top, not Parmigiano","The pallottine sugo needs the full 90 minutes — at 60 minutes it is still too sharp; at 90 it is round"}

Common Mistakes

{"All-semolina dough — too stiff to press through the chitarra without cracking","Rolling too thick — the pasta turns gelatinous when the sheets are too thick before cutting","Large meatballs — they dominate the pasta instead of integrating with it"}

Source

La Cucina Abruzzese — Massimo Di Felice

Cross-Cuisine Parallels

• {'cuisine': 'Molise', 'technique': 'Cavatelli al ragù di agnello', 'connection': 'Fresh pasta with slow-simmered lamb sauce — the cross-border relative with shared pastoral heritage'}
• {'cuisine': 'Neapolitan', 'technique': 'Spaghetti con polpette al sugo', 'connection': 'Tiny meatballs slow-cooked in tomato sauce and served on long pasta — the shared Sunday tradition'}
• {'cuisine': 'Spanish', 'technique': 'Fideos con albóndigas en salsa', 'connection': 'Short or long pasta with small meatballs in tomato sauce — the Mediterranean parallel'}