Garganelli making

Garganelli are a hand-rolled tubular pasta that are formed by rolling a small square of dough on a small ridged wooden board called a pettine with a miniature rolling pin. They are a specialty of Romagna and they are very similar to penne rigate. Traditionally, the pasta dough for garganelli contains grated Parmesan cheese.

The shape of the garganelli along with the ridges on the surface allow the pasta to be paired with creamy and meaty sauces such as ragu.

How to prepare the pasta dough:

On a flat surface, sift the flour and dig a hole in the center into which the eggs will be added. Start mixing with a fork and incorporate the flour little by little. Once the flour is all mixed with the yolks, start mixing using your hands until the mixture is well homogeneous. Add the saffron, the parmesan and season with salt. If needed, add some water. Form the dough into a ball and wrap it inside a plastic wrap. Let it rest aside for at least 20 minutes and prepare the stuffing. For the pasta making, dust your work surface with some flour. Take a lump of dough and press it with your fingertips. Set the pasta machine at its widest setting and roll the pasta dough though it. If the pasta sticks, dust it with flour. Click the pasta machine down a setting and roll the dough through again. Fold the pasta in half, click the pasta machine back up to the widest setting and roll the dough through again. Repeat this process four to five times. The pasta dough becomes smooth and workable like that. Now it’s time to roll the dough out properly, working it through all the settings on the machine, from the widest down to the narrowest. Dust both sides of the pasta with some Cecco flour every time you roll it through the machine. When you’ve got down to the narrowest setting, fold the pasta in half lengthwise, then in half again, and again once more until you’ve got a square piece of dough. Turn it 90 degrees and pass it through the machine at the widest setting. As you roll it down through the settings for the last time, you should end up with a nice rectangular sheet of dough with straight sides. If your dough is a little cracked at the edges, fold it in half just once, click the machine back two settings and feed it through again.

How to prepare the Garganelli:

Lightly flour the garganelli board (pettine). Cut the dough into rectangular shaped stripes of 30 cm width. Cut the pasta strips pasta into squares of 4 cm. Place one at a time the squares on the pettine in a diagonal way. Roll the rolling pin on the of the diagonal square pasta sheet, pressing down lightly. At the end, press down to seal the bottom point of dough to the roll. Slide the formed quill off the rolling pin onto a floured tray. Continue until all the Garganelli are formed, and let them aside to dry for about an hour.

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