Maccheroni al Ferretto alla Lucana — Handmade Pasta with Lamb Ragù

Ingredients

• For the maccheroni dough
• 500 g semolina rimacinata (twice-milled durum wheat semolina)
• 200 ml warm water
• For the lamb ragù
• 800 g lamb or mutton pieces, bone-in, shoulder or neck preferred
• 400 g canned whole tomatoes, or ripe fresh tomatoes, crushed
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 1–2 peperoncino (dried red chilli), whole or crumbled, to taste
• 1 white or yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• to taste fine sea salt
• Equipment
• 1 ferretto (thin wrought-iron rod or knitting needle), a slight surface roughness aids grip; a smooth skewer is a less effective substitute

Method

1. 1
   Combine the semolina rimacinata and warm water in a bowl. Bring together into a rough mass, then turn onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, firm, and not at all tacky — the surface should feel like stiff chamois leather and spring back when pressed. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when a cut cross-section shows no dry flour at its core.
2. 2
   Season the lamb or mutton pieces. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based braising pot over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in uncrowded batches until each surface is a deep, even mahogany — no grey patches. Remove the meat. In the same fat, soften the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent and golden at the edges. Return the meat, add the wine, and allow it to reduce by half — the sharp alcohol smell gives way to a rounder, sweeter scent.
3. 3
   Add the tomatoes and peperoncino. Stir to combine, bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and braise over the lowest possible heat for 3 to 4 hours. This is where the dish lives or dies: the ragù must be held at the barest tremble for the full duration — a rapid boil will tighten the meat fibres rather than surrender them. At 3 hours, press a piece of meat with a spoon; it must collapse without resistance, the collagen entirely dissolved into the sauce.
4. 4
   Lift the meat from the sauce. Pull it from the bones in coarse shreds with two forks; discard bones and any excess fat. Return the shredded meat to the sauce, stir, and taste for salt. The ragù should be dense and dark, coating a spoon in a thick, glossy film rather than running off in a thin stream.
5. 5
   Divide the rested dough into manageable pieces. Roll each into a rope of 3 mm diameter — even thickness along its length is essential. Lay the ferretto at one end of the rope and, with firm, even palm pressure, roll the dough around the rod in a continuous spiral. Hold the rope at both ends and roll the ferretto back and forth once to tighten the grip. Slide the formed spiral carefully off the rod onto a lightly floured cloth. Held to the light, the hollow running through the pasta should be clearly visible. Repeat until all dough is shaped.
6. 6
   Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a full rolling boil. Cook the maccheroni al ferretto until al dente — they are firm to the bite but without a chalky raw core. Fresh pasta shaped at this thickness will require only a few minutes; dried will require longer. Taste to judge.
7. 7
   Drain the pasta, reserving a ladleful of cooking water. Transfer the maccheroni to the pan of ragù over medium heat and toss to combine, adding a splash of pasta water if the sauce needs loosening. The ragù should cling to and lodge inside the spiral of each maccherone. Finish in the pan for one minute until every piece is coated. Serve immediately.