MALTAGLIATI (lit. badly cut) are a kind of egg pasta typical of the Emilia-Romagna region, and are considered as a derivative of tagliatelle.
That is because for the preparation of tagliatelle, the dough gets rolled and cut into stripes. The extra dough (usually the edges) gets cut unevenly, both in shape and in thickness. And there you have your irregular pasta pieces, the maltagliati.
Maltagliati can be the base for a good bean soup as well as for many other recipes usually made of simple ingredients.
MALTAGLIATI RECIPE
Ingredients for 6 people
FOR THE PASTA:
- 300 grams of flour;
- 3 eggs.
FOR THE BEANS:
- 1/2 onion;
- 2 garlic cloves;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 celery stalk;
- olive oil;
- 300 grams of dried beans (that you have to put in water the night before) or 1 kg of fresh ones;
- 50 grams of bacon;
- salt;
- pepper.
Directions
Knead 300 grams of flour with the eggs and a pinch of salt in a bowl. When the dough begins to get hard, add a bit of water (about two tablespoons). Stir the mixture with a fork and then with your hands, and transfer it on a wooden work surface. If necessary and if you notice that the dough is too sticky, add some flour. Knead the dough vigorously for about ten minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and leave it to rest for about 30 minutes.
Roll the dough with a rolling pin as thinly as possible on a floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour and fold it. Cut it with a knife (as if you were making tagliatelle, but more unevenly). Put your maltagliati on a floured paper tray and leave them to rest for some hours before cooking them.
Put the chopped onion, garlic, carrot and celery with 1/2 glass of olive oil in a pan and fry. As soon as the mirepoix gets golden-brown, add the bacon cut in small cubes, the beans and two liters of slightly salted water. Boil the beans slowly and, if necessary, add some other hot water. When the beans are cooked, add your maltagliati and cook for a few minutes.
Add salt, pepper and oil to taste. Serve it very hot.
