Like the Sicilians

Fresh homemade tagliatelle in meat, red wine and ricotta sauce

Recipe (4 servings) ingredients:

For the dough:

• 300g flour (I always use ‘de Cecco’ flour)
• 3 whole eggs
• salt

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. Season with salt and 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.

For the sauce:

• 200g minced pork
• 200g minced beef
• 400g canned tomatoes
• 2tsp concentrated tomato paste
• 4 tbs olive oil
• 120ml red wine
• 250g fresh ricotta
• 100g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• salt, pepper

In a small casserole pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mince meat (pork and beef) and cook for about 7-8 minutes, until brown. Add the tomato paste together with the wine. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and cover the casserole pan partially. Let simmer over medium heat for about an hour.

Add the ricotta cheese in the casserole pan and mix well. Meanwhile, boil some water and place the tagliatelle to cook for about 3-4 minutes. Drain them and mix together with the sauce.

Serve in a pasta plate. Cover with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

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