Agnolotti del Plin — Pinched Pasta of the Langhe

Ingredients

• For the pasta dough
• 200 g 00 flour
• 4 eggs
• For the filling
• 200 g braised veal, braised until falling tender, cooled
• 150 g pork shoulder, braised until falling tender, cooled
• 150 g rabbit, braised until falling tender, cooled
• 1 egg
• 40 g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
• 1 pinch nutmeg, freshly grated

Method

1. 1
   Braise the veal, pork shoulder, and rabbit separately or together in the Langhe tradition until each is completely falling tender. Remove from the heat and cool fully before proceeding. The braising liquor may be reserved and served as brodo.
2. 2
   Pass the cooled meats through a food mill — not a food processor. The food mill produces the correct, slightly coarse and cohesive texture. Mix the milled meat thoroughly with the egg, the grated Parmigiano, and a small grating of nutmeg. The filling must be dry enough to hold its shape when spooned or piped; it must not spread. This is where the dish lives or dies: a wet filling will burst at the pinch and ruin the parcel during cooking.
3. 3
   Make the pasta dough from 200 g of 00 flour and 4 eggs, kneading until smooth and elastic. Rest the dough wrapped for at least 20 minutes at room temperature.
4. 4
   Roll the dough to 1 mm — nearly translucent. The sheet must be thin enough that the pasta does not become doughy around the sealed edges of the parcel.
5. 5
   Pipe or spoon the filling in a line 1 cm from the bottom edge of the sheet, placing small mounds at 2 cm intervals. Fold the pasta sheet over the filling to enclose it. Pinch firmly between each mound — the plin — pressing the dough together so each parcel is completely sealed and separated. Cut along the top folded edge and between each parcel to free the individual agnolotti. Each finished parcel should measure 2–3 cm. Check that each seal is closed by pressing along the pinch; any parcel that yields to light pressure must be re-sealed.
6. 6
   Cook the agnolotti del plin in well-salted boiling water or in the reserved braising broth for 2–3 minutes. They are done when they float and the pasta at the sealed edges yields to the tooth without resistance.
7. 7
   To serve al tovagliolo: drain the agnolotti and transfer immediately to a cloth napkin laid on the plate, so any remaining water is absorbed. Serve at once, plain, with no sauce or garnish — only the heat of the pasta and the richness of the meat filling.