maccheroni al ferro al sugo / handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce

handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce

I am on a roll with handmade pasta. Just in the past few weeks, I have made strascinati and orecchiette. Here, I continue my exploration of pasta shapes with maccheroni al ferro.

maccheroni making in progress

In my rendition of this pasta, I followed this video and made relatively short maccheroni. I suggest you do the same the first few times, until you become familiar with the process. Then, if you like, you can try making longer maccheroni, as shown in the video included in this post (in Italian).

my first try at making longer maccheroni

The dough is basically the same as the one for orecchiette. Instead of just your hands, for maccheroni you need the ferro, a metal spike (you can see it in this photo). However, a thin wooden skewer works as a substitute and it is what I have used.

My hands making maccheroni al ferro are shown in this short video:

 

The trick, so to speak, is to apply enough pressure on the piece of dough so that it flattens and spreads around the ferro as you roll it, but not so much as to make it stick to the ferro. At the end of the process, you want to be able to slide the maccherone from the ferro without misshaping it (if that happens, you can always re-roll the dough and try again).

It helps to flour the skewer often. I have two of them at hand: while I am using one, the other is inside the flour bag. When the first one becomes a bit sticky, I put it in the flour and take up the other. (In the photo above they are both on the kneading board for demo purposes.)

As I have said in the past, when you decide to try, start with a small amount of flour, so you don't get overwhelmed. Then, when you are comfortable with the process, you can double the amount, or more.

a nice plate of handmade pasta

Dress maccheroni with a simple tomato sauce, or try the combination with another sauce you like.

Ingredients for the pasta (I recommend weighing both flour and water because the quantities involved are small):

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality¹
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water
  
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes, thawed if frozen
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make the pasta
Make a dough with the first three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. [This post (with video) talks about how to make semolina pasta dough] This is a bit of an exercise, since the dough is fairly stiff (you are making pasta, not bread). The dough is of a lovely pale yellow color. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the maccheroni. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 2 inch / 5 cm long pieces (if you are making longer maccheroni, cut the roll into 2 3/4 inch / 7 cm long pieces).

Shape each piece into a maccherone with the skewer. Place the ferro on the center of the piece of dough, press it lightly to make it stable, then start rolling. The first thing that happens is that a cylinder is formed, then the cylinder gets longer.

Lay out to dry. You may want to dust the surface lightly with flour or line it with a cotton kitchen towel.

ready to be cooked

Make the tomato sauce
In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the maccheroni, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

The final act
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the maccheroni in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The maccheroni will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the type of flour used, the size of maccheroni, how dry they are, etc., but it is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Taste and stop the cooking when the maccheroni are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the maccheroni. Place in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions. 

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

Last year, I wrote a post about maccherone, where I talked about the word, expressions that use it, and a sequence from an Italian movie that has to do with maccheroni: check it out here.

¹ See the post on orecchiette for details on the various types of ground durum wheat.

This is my contribution to edition #277 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

maccheroni al ferro al sugo

or launch the maccheroni al ferro al sugo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

pasta, tomato sauce

Comments

[Ivy]

Love them. These are similar to the ones we make them in Greece.

[Ruth]

Fabulous tutorial and once the weather turns cool, and I actually want to stay in the kitchen, I'm going to give it a try. Thanks for hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night.

[diary of a tomato]

When we were learning to make pasta in Puglia, this was the shape that gave us the most trouble, even though it was supposed to be the simplest to master! Thanks for making it look doable and including the video links, we'll have to give this another try.

[A Canadian Foodie]

What a labour of love! I really enjoy and appreciate these videos and posts. When in Bologna last fall, I took an all day pasta making class - just the making of the pasta and the rolling and then made bows, and tortillini and the traditional Bolognese Sauce. The sweat was rolling off my brow - not because it was so hard, but it was intense. I was the only student and it was an UNFORGETABLE day.
:)
V

[My Italian Smörgåsbord]

nice to meet you!
just discovered your blog and I am very impressed with these maccheroni. I cook and bake a lot but hand-made pasta has always kind of scared me. this though looks soooo good that I may win my fear for once...
Barbara

[Kathryn]

It looks delicious:)

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Ivy. Thanks for letting me know that you have a similar pasta shape in Greece: I am always intrigued by the links between Italy and Greece in terms of food.

I hope you do, Ruth, and if so, let me know how it goes.

Hello Diary. I can see how this shape gave you trouble. I sometimes have to set aside one maccherone that did not turn out properly shaped. I hope you'll give maccheroni another try. I am currently experimenting with another shape made with the help of the skewer, so stay tuned.

Welcome, Barbara. Please, don't be scared. As I just said, start small and choose a shape that truly intrigues you, and your motivation will carry you through. As you hands become more familiar with handling the dough, you can challenge yourself to try some other shape. The most important thing is always to have fun.

Thanks, Kathryn.

Wow, Valerie, that was intense. When my mother made cappelletti I was in charge of the filling and shaping. I can't say I was overjoyed, as we would go on for hours: I was a teenager then and would have preferred to do something else. Of course, now I am glad I acquired at least that manual skill. But that's why I suggest people start with a small quantity of dough, until they are comfortable with the process.

[Frank]

I really admire your dexterity and patience, Simona! I'm not sure if I have enough of either to make this pasta, though it looks fabulous! Do you take mail orders?

[Simona Carini]

Thank for the kind words, Frank. Keeping the amount of dough small has worked well for me. I see that it is a manageable task and don't get nervous. I may take orders ;) I am running an experiment now to see how long it takes to thoroughly dry the pasta before I can package it. California is considering a Cottage Food law: if it passes, I will be able to sell my pasta on the open market.