P
Italian · Abruzzo
Maccheroni alla Chitarra con Ragù d'Agnello Abruzzese
Square-section spaghetti cut on the 'chitarra' (guitar) — a wooden frame strung with parallel steel wires — dressed with a slow-cooked lamb ragù fragrant with tomato, sweet pepper, rosemary and saffron. The chitarra gives the pasta a rough, porous surface that grips the chunky ragù better than smooth factory pasta. The lamb ragù is a direct link to the pastoral traditions of the Gran Sasso and Maiella highlands.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the chitarra pasta
300 g
00 flour
Your own market
3
eggs
whole, room temperature
Your own market
For the lamb ragù
800 g
lamb shoulder or neck
bone-in pieces
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
sweet peppers (peperoni dolci)
charred directly on the flame, peeled, torn
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 g
1
sprig rosemary
Your own market
1 pinch
saffron
bloomed in 4 tbsp warm water
Your own market
60 ml
olive oil
Your own market
1
onion
finely chopped
Your own market
To finish
50 g
Pecorino Abruzzese
finely grated
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Make the pasta dough. Mound the flour on a board, break the eggs into the centre and work to a firm, cohesive dough — firmer than standard pasta dough; lower hydration is deliberate. Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic, then wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it holds its shape without springing back under a thumb.
2
Char the sweet peppers directly over an open flame, turning until the skin is blackened on all sides. Transfer to a covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel, discard seeds and tear into strips. The peppers are ready when the charred skin lifts cleanly and the flesh beneath is soft and smoky.
3
Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sweat until translucent and soft, without colour. Add the bone-in lamb pieces and brown on all sides — the crust should be deep mahogany before anything else enters the pot.
4
Add the crushed tomatoes, charred pepper strips and rosemary sprig. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, cover and braise for 2 hours. This is where the dish lives or dies: the bone-in lamb must cook long enough for the collagen to dissolve and enrich the sauce — at 2 hours the meat should fall from the bone when pressed with a spoon and the sauce will have thickened to a glossy, clingy consistency.
5
Lift the lamb pieces from the sauce. Remove and discard the bones; pull the meat into coarse shreds and return it to the pot. Bloom the saffron in 4 tablespoons of warm water for 5 minutes, then stir the saffron and its soaking liquid into the ragù. Simmer uncovered for a further 20 minutes. The sauce is ready when it carries a distinct floral, golden warmth that was absent before.
6
Roll the rested dough into sheets approximately 3 mm thick — the thickness matching the standard spacing of the chitarra strings. Lay a sheet across the chitarra frame. Press firmly and evenly along the full length of the sheet with a rolling pin in a single, deliberate pass; uneven pressure produces irregular cuts. Hold the chitarra over a tray and run a knife along each string to free any strands that cling. The cut maccheroni should be square in section, uniform and separate.
7
Cook the maccheroni in well-salted boiling water until just tender but with distinct resistance at the centre — al dente. Reserve 200 ml pasta cooking water before draining. Transfer the pasta directly into the ragù pan over medium heat, adding pasta water gradually and tossing until the sauce coats each strand individually and no pooling liquid remains.
From the canon — Pasta cooking water contains dissolved starch (released from the pasta surface during boiling) at a concentration that increases with pasta-to-water ratio an… Pasta Water: Starch Concentration and Sauce Binding →
8
Divide among warmed bowls and finish with a generous grating of Pecorino Abruzzese. Serve immediately.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Lamb from the Gran Sasso or Maiella highlands, genuinely pasture-raised on mountain herbage; saffron from Navelli (L'Aquino DOP), the only Italian saffron of sufficient potency; Pecorino Abruzzese aged a minimum of six months from a single-flock producer.
02
Estate — Named-region bone-in lamb shoulder or neck from a domestic pastoral producer; good-quality saffron threads (not powder) from a reliable provenance; Pecorino Abruzzese from a reputable Abruzzese caseificio.
03
Market — Any bone-in lamb shoulder or neck from a butcher able to confirm the cut; saffron threads from a reputable supermarket spice counter; Pecorino Romano as a serviceable substitute for Pecorino Abruzzese.
04
House — Supermarket bone-in lamb; saffron sachets; Parmigiano-Reggiano in place of Pecorino — the sheepish reinforcement of the ragù is lost but the dish remains coherent.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Rested pasta dough holds its shape without springing back under a thumb and feels firm rather than tacky.
◇Touch. After 2 hours of braising, the lamb falls cleanly from the bone when pressed with the back of a spoon.
◇Sight. The ragù, after shredding and saffron addition, coats the back of a spoon in a thick, glossy film with no watery separation.
◇Sight. Cut maccheroni alla chitarra are square in cross-section, uniform in width and fully separated — no ribbons fused at the edge.
◇Smell. After the saffron simmers into the ragù, a distinct floral, slightly honeyed warmth rises — confirming the volatile aromatics have been preserved rather than cooked off.
◇Where it lives or dies. The bone-in lamb must braise a full two hours until collagen has dissolved into the sauce and the meat falls from the bone — cut this short and the ragù will be thin and the meat tough.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
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