Have you ever made spaghetti “alla chitarra”?
I must admit, I never tried this method until my friend Leila invited me to her place for a little cookery lesson among friends. I have known Laila for many years. She is originally from Abruzzo but she moved to the UK many years ago now. Like myself, she is married to an English man and we also have something else in common: our love for good food.
Laila is particularly skilled at making pasta and pizza as well as traditional Italian meals.
As soon as I arrived I could not help but staring at a curious object: “the chitarra” or guitar which is a frame with parallel wires crossing it. Pasta made in this way is particularly tasty as it gets a porous texture which allows the pasta sauce to adhere well.
We started off by making the pasta dough, which was a mixture of durum wheat semolina, eggs, and a pinch of salt.
Working with our hands we kneaded it and made a smooth ball
After that we cut the dough into portions and we thinly rolled it with a rolling pin.
And then the real fun begun: we placed a sheet of dough on top of the chitarra and then we pushed it through with the rolling pin. The strings of the guitar would cut it into strips and make spaghetti. I thought it was a very clever way of making pasta!
And here they are our spaghetti. I feel hungry just by looking at the picture now!
We also made tagliatelle
I was looking online and a chitarra pasta cutter is not that expensive at all. I am tempted to get one myself too.
Recently I started using more spelt, kamut korasan and rye instead of wheat but I find it difficult to find these types of pastas in England or if I do they are far too pricey; I might start making my own and this is an easy way to do it. A chitarra is also a relatively small gadget and very easy to store.
The lesson ended in style with a refreshing aperitivo and taralllini cookies.
Just perfect! I had a great time and I am hoping for more to come.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Thought spaghetti were round…they are more like tagliatelle. Homemade pasta must be really awesome.
Yes spaghetti alla chitarra have a more porous texture than traditional spaghetti.. so tasty!
ho anche io la chitarra ma la uso pochissimo, dovrò rimediare, questa pasta è buonissima ! Un abbraccio
Me me devo prendere una anch’io!
Oh yum! This looks so good! You can’t go wrong with fresh pasta. 🙂 A while ago, I purchased the gadget for making spaghetti alla chitarra but I haven’t tried it yet. It really looks fun to use! I think pasta made with the healthier flours would also work well. We spent our vacation this summer in Austria and I ended up making an Austrian filled pasta out of white flour and rye. It turned out really well! I had some leftover pasta and made quadratini for soup the next day. My boys loved it. I’m positive that the flours you use would work also work well on the ‘chitarra’. Thanks for sharing!
Hello Rosa! I visited Austria many times as I used to live in Friuli, an hour from the border. It is such a beautiful country. Making quadratini out of leftover pasta is always a great idea (my friend made maltagliati too), so there is no waste. All the best, ciao!