Italian · Abruzzo

Spaghetti alla Chitarra con Pallottine — Guitar-Cut Spaghetti with Tiny Meatballs

Spaghetti alla chitarra con pallottine is the Sunday primo of Abruzzo — the guitar-cut square-section spaghetti dressed with a long-cooked tomato and meat ragù containing pallottine (tiny meatballs, barely 1cm in diameter), made from a mixture of beef, pork, and sometimes veal or lamb, seasoned with Pecorino, egg, and parsley. The chitarra (guitar) — a wooden frame strung with steel wires across which a sheet of egg pasta is pressed and cut — is the defining tool of Abruzzo pasta production. The square-section spaghetti alla chitarra, slightly thicker than standard spaghetti, has a rough, textured surface that holds ragù exceptionally. The pallottine are formed by rolling tiny pieces of seasoned meat between palms — the smaller the better.

ServesFour portions

Sourced1of 14 in BC

Cook

The Market List

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For the chitarra pasta

400 g

00 flour

Your own market

eggs

Your own market

1 pinch

salt

Your own market

For the pallottine

300 g

combined beef and pork mince

or with some veal or lamb

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

egg

Your own market

2 tbsp

Pecorino

finely grated

Your own market

1 small bunch

flat-leaf parsley

finely chopped

Your own market

to taste

salt and black pepper

Your own market

For the ragù

onion

finely chopped

Your own market

1 stalk

celery

finely chopped

Your own market

carrot

finely chopped

Your own market

400 g

crushed tomatoes

Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →

as needed

olive oil

for soffritto and browning pallottine

Your own market

To finish

to taste

Pecorino

finely grated, for the table

Your own market

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The Method

Combine the 00 flour and a pinch of salt on a work surface. Make a well and break in the eggs — one egg per 100 g of flour. Work to a smooth, firm dough. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough is ready when it is elastic and no longer sticky to the touch.

Roll the rested dough to a sheet of 3–4 mm — the correct thickness for the chitarra. Lay the sheet across the steel wires of the chitarra and press firmly with a rolling pin; the wires cut the dough into square-section spaghetti. Gather the cut pasta and dust lightly with flour to prevent sticking. The strands should be uniform in section with a visibly rough, textured surface.

Combine the mince, egg, grated Pecorino, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Roll pieces of the mixture between the palms into balls of 1 cm diameter or less — the smaller the better. This is where the dish lives or dies: pallottine formed too large destroy the texture ratio entirely and the preparation loses its characteristic delicacy; every ball must be uniform and very small.

Heat olive oil in a wide pan over a medium-high flame. Brown the pallottine in batches — do not crowd the pan. Turn them carefully so that each ball takes colour on all sides. Remove and set aside. The pallottine are ready when they are evenly browned and hold their shape.

In a separate pan, warm olive oil and sweat the finely chopped onion, celery, and carrot over a low flame until soft and translucent. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce must reduce to a consistency substantial enough to coat pasta; a thin sauce will not hold to the chitarra.

Add the browned pallottine to the tomato sauce and simmer for a further 20 minutes. The sauce is ready when it is thick, deeply coloured, and the pallottine are cooked through.

From the canon — Three tomato sauce approaches, each producing a categorically different result: Tomato Sauce: The Three Methods →

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti alla chitarra for 3–4 minutes. The pasta is best al dente — it will continue to cook when dressed with the hot sauce. Drain and dress immediately and generously with the ragù and pallottine.

Serve at once with grated Pecorino offered at the table. The sharp, grassy note of the Pecorino is the Abruzzese finish; Parmigiano is not traditional.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — Pasta cut on a traditional wooden chitarra with steel wires; mince from a single-breed beef and heritage pork butchered to order; aged Pecorino Romano from a named Abruzzese or Lazio producer; San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed.

Estate — Chitarra-cut pasta made at home from 00 flour and good free-range eggs; butcher-ground beef and pork mince; a young but quality Pecorino; good-quality Italian crushed tomatoes.

Market — Fresh egg pasta rolled by machine and hand-cut into square-section spaghetti; supermarket beef-pork mince blend; standard Pecorino Romano; passata or whole tinned tomatoes, crushed by hand.

House — Dried spaghetti alla chitarra (commercially available); pre-mixed mince; pre-grated Pecorino; tinned crushed tomatoes. The structure of the dish holds at this level, though the rough, textured surface of fresh chitarra is not replicated.

Sensory Tests

◇Touch. The rested pasta dough springs back slightly when pressed but does not tear — it is smooth, elastic, and no longer tacky.

◇Sight. The chitarra-cut strands are square in section with a visibly rough surface; they hold their shape without clumping after cutting.

◇Touch. Each pallottina is firm and coherent when rolled between the palms — it holds a sphere of 1 cm or less without cracking.

◇Sight. The browned pallottine are evenly coloured on all sides and hold their shape without splitting.

◇Sight. The ragù is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and deeply coloured after 30 minutes' reduction before the pallottine are added.

◇Taste. The cooked chitarra is al dente — it yields to the bite with a slight resistance at the centre.

◇Where it lives or dies. The pallottine must be rolled to 1 cm or smaller — oversized meatballs collapse the balance of pasta to meat and strip the dish of its defining delicacy.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

Neapolitan Pasta al Ragù Napoletano con Polpettine — long-cooked tomato ragù with small meatballs over pasta; the key differences from the Abruzzese preparation are the pasta shape (round vermicelli rather than square chitarra) and the meatball seasoning (Parmigiano rather than Pecorino). Source: the Thread in the entry, citing Oretta Zanini de Vita, Encyclopedia of Pasta. Catalan Fideos con Albóndigas — short noodles with tiny meatballs in a tomato-based sauce; the pasta-plus-small-meatball principle is identical to the Abruzzese chitarra con pallottine, though fideos are often oven-finished. Source: the Thread in the entry, citing Oretta Zanini de Vita, Encyclopedia of Pasta.

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What to Pour

A medium-bodied southern Italian red with sufficient acidity to match the long-cooked tomato ragù and cut through the richness of the meat — Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is the regional pairing and the natural choice at the Abruzzese Sunday table.

The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Spaghetti alla chitarra — also called maccheroni alla chitarra — is the defining pasta of Abruzzo, documented from at least the 19th century and described in detail in Abruzzese culinary sources. The chitarra itself, a wooden frame strung with steel wires, is the instrument that gives the pasta its square section and rough surface. The pallottine version is the Sunday and festive preparation; the weekday chitarra is dressed with a simpler sauce. Sources: Oretta Zanini de Vita, Encyclopedia of Pasta; Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane.

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Sourced through Provenance

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Bosa Foods

Vancouver · crushed tomatoes

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