Abruzzo (throughout the region)
Abruzzo's defining pasta format: square-section spaghetti formed by pressing fresh egg dough through the strings of a wooden 'chitarra' (guitar), creating a surface texture unlike any other pasta — the strings cut rather than extrude, producing a rough, toothsome square cross-section that grips sauce with extraordinary efficiency. The canonical sauce: lamb ragù (shoulder and rib) slow-cooked with peperoncino, tomato, white wine, and olive oil for 3+ hours. Every Abruzzese family owns a chitarra; the pasta cannot be made without it.
Springy, toothsome square pasta with every surface rough-cut, carrying the deep, spiced lamb ragù in its angles — the most textural pasta in the central Italian repertoire
The chitarra strings must be taut and evenly spaced (2-3mm apart) — loose strings produce uneven pasta squares. The pasta sheet must be rolled to exactly the same thickness as the string spacing to produce perfect squares. The pasta is pressed through the strings by rolling with a pin directly over the chitarra surface. The lamb ragù must be long-cooked enough that the connective tissue fully softens and the braising liquid reduces to a thick, glossy sauce.
A pasta chitarra can be purchased from Italian kitchen supply stores — it is the only tool for this pasta. The chitarra can produce both standard (2-3mm) and thick (4-5mm) maccheroni by using different string spacing. For the ragù: include the lamb neck bones during braising for the maximum gelatin contribution to the sauce — remove before serving but the collagen significantly enriches the final broth.
Pasta rolled too thick — produces rectangular rather than square cross-sections. Chitarra strings not taut enough — pasta bunches and sticks. Lamb ragù not cooked long enough — the shoulder meat must be fully tender and the sauce reduced to coat. Using lamb mince instead of braised shoulder — the texture is entirely different.
La Cucina dell'Abruzzo — Accademia Italiana della Cucina