The original spaghetti meatballs (Chitarra con le polpette)

This must be one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time so comforting and full of family memories. If anything can cure me up when I am sad, this is! Fresh spaghetti alla chitarra (squared spaghetti) dressed with intense mini meatballs tomato sauce.

These fresh spaghetti made with an egg base dough have an incredible texture which helps them holding the sauce magnetically well.

Bear in mind, this recipe is from Abruzzo but have variations across other areas of southern Italy. The ‘really’ traditional version of this would want you to add lamb meat as well to the sauce as it cooks for a deeper flavor but here I opted for a quicker version.

Serve – 4/5 // Prep time – 90 minutes (including pasta making) // Cooking time – 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the pasta

• 500 g of 00 flour (or all-purpose/plain flour)

• 2 eggs

• 8 egg yolks

• Extra flour to dust

For the sauce

• 800 g of tinned tomatoes

• 300 g of pork ribs (or Italian sausage works too)

• 1 onion

• 2 carrots

• 1 celery stalk

• 1 bay leaf

• 4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

• 100 ml of dry white wine

• 20 g of butter

• Grated pecorino cheese (optional)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 3 cloves

For the mini meatballs mix:

• 400 g of minced meat (usually rose veal or beef)

• 50 g of grated pecorino cheese

• 1 egg

• 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs

• Plain flour to dust

• Salt, nutmeg and pepper (to taste)

Method

To make the pasta, Beat the eggs and yolks with a fork and incorporate the flour gradually. When the ingredients start to bind together knead by hands with energy. After a few minutes of working, it will slowly come together and result in a smooth and homogeneous dough. As not all eggs are the same, if your dough feels too sticky to your hands, feel free to add a spoon of flour, if too dry and not binding, you can add a touch of egg white left or even a splash of water.

When ready, wrap your dough in film and leave to rest for about 30 minutes

Proceed to roll the dough into pasta sheets.

Slice the pasta into thick sheets and flatten them with a rolling pin. With the help of a pasta machine, roll the pasta out. Pass the pasta gradually from the largest setting to the mid settings as it needs to be about 3/4mm thick. Dust your pasta sheets with flour and to dry for 5 minutes on your board before cutting it. 

To cut the spaghetti simply use the cutter provided with the pasta machine or alternatively patiently to cut by hand using a sharp knife. Fold the sheet on itself from both ends lengthwise and not too tight and stop when the 2 edges meet each other in the middle (do not let the 2 overlap). With a sharp knife cut the rolled sheet into spaghetti trying to keep a squared shape in terms of thickness.

Now pass the blunt side of your knife under the sliced ‘spaghetti roll’ and lift them up to allow the spaghetti to open up and separate from each other. Dust with flour and use straight away or keep refrigerated.

For the mini meatballs mix the minced meat with the eggs, the grated cheese and the breadcrumbs, season with a good pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Knead well until smooth. If too loose add a touch of extra breadcrumbs.

Now start with the making of the meatballs by rolling little quantities of meat mix in the palm of your hands. They should be between 2 and 4 gr maximum. During the process a little drop of oil on your palms could help a little.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan and add the onion cut in halves with the cloves inserted into it (for easy removal), the carrot and celery cut into big chunks. Season with a pinch of salt and then add the pork ribs. Roast on high heat on all sides for about 5 minutes than the butter and bay leaf. Now half pour in the wine, let the alcohol cook off and add the tomatoes (previously crushed). Season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 40 minutes on low heat until the sauce has thickened and developed in flavour.

When the sauce is ready, patiently remove the ribs, onion, carrots and celery. Keep the ribs to save on the side of the pasta, discard the celery and If you like (optionally) chop the onion and carrots finely to add them back to the sauce.

In a separate pan, fry the meatballs on high heat with a drizzle of oil and a knob of butter. Toss the meatballs gently around the pan and when they start to color, pour the wine left in, let the alcohol evaporate for 30 seconds and add to the tomato sauce. Let them sit together while still hot.

Drop the Chitarra in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook al dente for about 3 minutes. Drain the pasta but make sure to save a mug of cooking water.

Place the pasta into the pan with the sauce and add a drop of cooking water to loosen up the sauce. Stir and toss the pasta in the sauce over medium heat for 30 seconds to make sure it is well coated. Remove from the heat and plate. Top with extra grated pecorino cheese and enjoy!!