P
Italian · Campofilone
Maccheroncini di Campofilone con Ragù di Coniglio
The Fermo province's extraordinary pasta — maccheroncini di Campofilone (an IGP-protected pasta made with 10 egg yolks per kilo of flour, producing golden, thread-fine strands 0.3mm wide) dressed with a white rabbit ragù. The pasta's extraordinary egg richness means it needs only 2 minutes of cooking time and serves as a canvas that amplifies rather than competes with its sauce. The rabbit ragù is white (no tomato): rabbit joints braised with white wine, shallot, rosemary, and sage until the meat falls off and is shredded back into the reduced braising juices.
I
The Market List
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For the maccheroncini
1 kg
00 flour
Your own market
10
egg yolks
per kilo of flour
Your own market
For the rabbit ragù bianco
1
rabbit
shoulder and leg joints only, never the loin
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 ml
dry white wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
shallots
finely chopped
Your own market
2
rosemary sprigs
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
4
sage leaves
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
fresh thyme sprigs
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
fresh marjoram sprigs
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the pasta water
10 g per litre
fine salt
minimum; the pasta is too delicate to compensate for under-salted water
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Mound the flour on a work surface and make a well. Add the 10 egg yolks. Work from the centre outward, incorporating the flour gradually until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand for a full 20 minutes without interruption: the high-yolk dough requires extended working to build the gluten structure that will allow rolling to translucency. The dough is ready when it is smooth, firm, and does not tear when stretched.
2
Wrap the dough and allow it to rest at room temperature. When pressed, the surface yields slightly and springs back without sticking.
3
Roll the dough through a pasta machine, progressively narrowing the setting. This is where the dish lives or dies: continue rolling to setting 9 — the thinnest — until each sheet is translucent when held to the light. A sheet that is not translucent will produce strands too thick to carry the dish's character. Cut the sheets into 2 mm strips. Dust with flour and set aside.
4
Place the rabbit shoulder and leg joints in a braising vessel with the shallot, rosemary, sage, thyme, and marjoram. Pour in the white wine and add minimal water to barely cover. Braise over low heat until the meat falls completely from the bone. The joints are ready when the flesh offers no resistance and separates cleanly with a spoon.
5
Remove the rabbit joints. Discard the bones and herb stems. Shred the meat finely by hand and return it to the braising vessel. Reduce the cooking juices over moderate heat until the liquid becomes a syrupy glaze that coats the shredded meat. Do not add cream or additional fat. The sauce is ready when it glistens and clings to the meat without pooling.
6
Bring a large pot of water to a full rolling boil. Season to a minimum of 10 g of salt per litre. Add the maccheroncini and cook for exactly 2 minutes. Even 30 seconds beyond this produces a sticky, collapsed mass. The pasta is ready when the strands are tender but retain the faintest resistance at their core.
7
Drain the pasta immediately. Have the rabbit ragù already warm in the pan. Add the pasta and toss briefly. Serve within 1 minute of draining: maccheroncini di Campofilone cools and continues to cook in seconds. The finished dish should show golden, thread-fine strands, each coated in the reduced braising glaze, with no pooling liquid on the plate.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP — commercially produced to Consorzio di Tutela specification, 10 egg yolks per kilo, 0.3 mm strand width. Wild rabbit, foraged herbs. The IGP designation guarantees the ratio and the thinness.
02
Estate — Hand-rolled maccheroncini made in the home to the 10-yolk specification, with free-range farmed rabbit and fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, and marjoram from a kitchen garden.
03
Market — Fresh egg pasta rolled to the thinnest machine setting, cut to 2 mm, with a good free-range farmed rabbit from a butcher who will joint the shoulder and leg to order.
04
House — A commercially produced fine egg pasta (tagliolini or capellini) substituted for the maccheroncini, with supermarket rabbit joints. The character of the dish is substantially reduced but the ragù bianco remains sound.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. After 20 minutes of kneading the dough is smooth, firm, and stretches without tearing.
◇Sight. The pasta sheet at setting 9 is translucent when held to the light.
◇Touch. Rabbit joints yield completely to a spoon; the flesh separates from the bone without resistance.
◇Sight. Reduced braising juices form a syrupy glaze that clings to the shredded meat without pooling.
◇Taste. At 2 minutes the pasta is tender with the faintest resistance at the core; beyond this point it collapses.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish cannot survive a dough rolled short of translucency: strands too thick to achieve 0.3 mm forfeit the defining character of Campofilone pasta entirely.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Fortified wine
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