Saveur Cooks Authentic American - Editors Of Cook's Illustrated Magazine [24]
4. Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until al dente, or according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, transfer to a bowl, and toss with about half of the ragù, reserving the rest for another use. Serve warm with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Italy’s Other Ragù
The meaty wonder that is ragù alla bolognese may be the most famous pasta sauce in all of Italy, but other styles of ragù (which are sometimes called sugo) have similarly deep roots in other parts of the country. One of the most distinctive hails from Naples: ragù alla napoletana is a thick, robust tomato-based sauce cooked for hours with pork ribs, meatballs, fresh and cured sausages, and plenty of bones, which not only flavor the sauce but also lend it body. The thick sauce is tossed with hard durum wheat pasta of various shapes, from tubular penne rigate to spaghetti, and showered with grated cheese, often a pungent sheep’s milk variety. There are countless other ragù in the southern part of Italy, including Sicilian and Calabrian versions made with meaty fish like tuna and swordfish. Unlike their counterparts in the north of Italy, virtually all southern ragù are heavy on tomatoes. In other parts of Italy, the type of meat is often the distinguishing characteristic of the sauce. In the province of Verona, for example, horse meat is a traditional ingredient, and Tuscans and Umbrians are partial to game, including duck, hare, and wild boar. Roman versions are often made with cured meats, and in Abruzzo and Molise, two provinces that sit adjacent to each other in the east-central part of the country, ragù of lamb and pork are the norm; they’re often flavored with rosemary and served with pasta that’s been cut with a tool with strings like a guitar called a chitarra, which creates rough edges to which the sauce clings beautifully.
Homemade Tagliatelle
Many Bolognese pasta makers roll their pasta dough by hand to make tagliatelle, but we found that using a hand-cranked pasta roller and cutting the dough with a knife yields excellent results.
A On a clean surface, form 3 cups flour into a mound; create a well in center. Sprinkle 1 tsp. kosher salt over flour. Add 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 2 tbsp. water, and 1 tbsp. olive oil to well.
B Using a fork, incorporate eggs and liquid in a circular motion, pulling in small amounts of flour until dough becomes stiff.
C Knead dough, adding a little flour as necessary, until it’s smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap; let rest for 30 minutes.
D Cut dough into quarters.
E Flatten 1 quarter into a rectangle (cover others with a towel). Pass dough through a hand-cranked pasta roller set at widest setting.
F Fold dough in thirds, creating another rectangle; feed open edge through roller set at widest setting. Fold again; roll twice more using same setting. Decrease setting one notch and roll the pasta through again; repeat, decreasing setting each time until you’ve reached the second-to-last setting, creating a 1/16-inch thick sheet.
G Sprinkle sheet with flour; halve crosswise. Transfer to flour-dusted parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining dough, adding flour-dusted parchment paper between each layer.
H Tightly roll each sheet, from short end to short end; cut cylinder crosswise into 3/8-inch wide strips. Unroll strips and toss with flour; spread on a floured parchment sheet. Let dry for 30 minutes. To serve: Cook tagliatelle in salted boiling water until al dente, about 3–4 minutes. Drain; transfer to a bowl and toss with 2 cups ragù (or more, to taste); see Pasta with Ragù recipe. Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Serves 4
Bucatini with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Bucatini all’Amatriciana
This Roman classic is flavored with guanciale, or cured pork jowl, though pancetta is a fine substitute. Toasting the black pepper in the fat rendered out from the guanciale boosts the flavor of this sauce.
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz. thinly sliced guanciale or pancetta,