For those who ask ten Piedmontese cooks what agnolotti are, you might get twelve solutions. Agnolotti may be small or giant; sq. or rectangular; pinched or not; served in broth, melted butter, al tovagliolo (on a serviette with out sauce), or with roast drippings; and full of meat, greens, or a mixture of each. Making an attempt to outline a single “genuine” agnolotto is like making an attempt to outline a single “genuine” lasagna—good luck doing that with out beginning a battle in Bologna.

Nonetheless, there are patterns. Within the hills of the Langhe and Monferrato—Barolo nation—the shape most carefully related to the identify is agnolotti del plin. Plin means “pinch” within the dialect of Piedmont, and refers back to the shaping method: Lengthy sheets of pasta are folded over a line of filling, then pinched at intervals earlier than being separated with a pastry wheel. It is one among Italy’s most effective dumpling designs, producing dozens in a row with out the fuss of chopping every one individually. For those who’ve ever spent a day punching out ravioli, the Piedmontese plin technique looks like a rhythmic, simpler various. 

My recipe under follows the Langa-style custom: a finely floor, cooked filling made out of braised meat and greens, wrapped in skinny sheets of egg dough and formed with the basic plin pinch.

Agnolotti By the Regional Lens

What turns into clear when trying via historic Piedmontese cookbooks—like those this recipe attracts on—is that agnolotti weren’t invented to be a singular, codified factor. They have been a sensible resolution to the query of “What can we do with yesterday’s roast?” That meant they advanced in another way in every valley and village, relying on what meats, greens, and cheeses have been out there. Some older recipes embody rabbit, pork shoulder, sweetbreads, calf mind, and even donkey. Many combine meats with greens like cabbage, spinach, or chard. Some name for a touch of tomato; others insist tomato by no means belongs anyplace close to the filling.

Apparently, recent pasta recipes present variation too: Some use solely eggs; others enrich with a splash of wine or oil; some add further yolks; some preserve the dough lean. However throughout these recipes, you begin to see recurring ratios by quantity or weight—roughly 100 grams of flour per egg, give or take—which produces a supple dough skinny sufficient for plin’s pinch-and-fold construction.

Regardless of the dizzying selection, Piedmontese cooks do agree on a number of core ideas. The filling must be cohesive—not runny, not chunky. The pasta must be an egg-enriched, soft-wheat doughsimilar to the area’s different well-known recent pasta, tajarin. And it must be skinny. Very skinny. The shaping method depends on that thinness: If the sheet is just too thick, folding it over the filling creates a double layer so cumbersome it turns gummy as soon as cooked, and the ratio of dough to filling swings out of steadiness. A correctly skinny sheet folds cleanly, seals simply with a light-weight press, and lets the filling dominate as a substitute of being smothered in dough.

Once you lower between the pinches with a fluted wheel, every dumpling folds barely onto itself, creating the plump, curved form that defines the plin. That pinch is each ornamental and structural. Pinch too frivolously, and also you threat leaks. Pinch too onerous and the dough tears.

Constructing the Filling

Whereas many Langhe and Monferrato variations traditionally relied on leftover roasts for the filling, this recipe builds these flavors deliberately from scratch utilizing beef quick ribs for his or her wealthy, meaty taste. They’re braised with savoy cabbage, onion, garlic, rosemary, purple wine, and broth—aromatics that present up many times in Piedmontese recipes. Cabbage, particularly, is a basic winter addition and softens into the meat, contributing sweetness and moisture with out making the filling free.

After cooking, the combination is floor to the fantastic texture most Piedmontese recipes insist on. Conventional cooks used a mezzaluna or a meat grinder, working the combination via till it resembled a pâté. I exploit a meals processor for practicality, however the objective is similar: To supply a filling that pipes cleanly and holds its form throughout cooking. Grana Padano, an egg, and a contact of nutmeg full the combination, giving it construction and rounding the flavour.

Methods to Form Agnolotti del Plin

For anybody unfamiliar with this shaping technique, plin can look intimidating at first. However with just a bit observe, you may discover your rhythm and understand how astonishingly environment friendly it’s.

Trim a sheet of pasta to a constant width, pipe a straight line of filling down the middle, then fold the underside edge as much as meet the highest. Seal frivolously—simply sufficient so the dough sticks to itself—then pinch at one-inch intervals to create particular person pockets. In case your pinches find yourself barely smaller or bigger, don’t be concerned. There is not any single “appropriate” measurement. So long as your dough is rolled to an excellent thinness and the filling is piped evenly, the agnolotti will prepare dinner on the identical price.

A assured roll of the pastry wheel between every pinch separates the dumplings and folds them in a single movement. It is an extremely quick approach to produce a big batch of crammed pasta.

Methods to Sauce and Serve

Agnolotti are historically served in ways in which spotlight the filling fairly than overshadow it. Widespread choices embody:

• with roast drippings (sugo d’arrosto),
• with brown butter and sage,
• in broth,
• or al tovagliolo—actually “on the serviette,” that means on a heat fabric with no sauce, a minimalist presentation that showcases the pasta and filling,
• and, when the season permits (and the pockets permits it), with shaved white truffle.

My model nods to Piedmont’s hazelnut heritage—residence of the tonda gentile delle langhe—by ending the pasta in brown butter with toasted hazelnuts and a splash of purple wine vinegar. The vinegar brightens the meat’s richness, making a meaty taste that pops.

This recipe sits firmly inside the Piedmontese custom: skinny, egg-rich soft-wheat dough; a cooked, finely floor filling balancing meat and greens; a shaping technique that produces small, environment friendly dumplings; and a easy sauce that amplifies fairly than competes. It is not a reproduction of a pasta from anyone trattoria, however unmistakably a part of all the lineage.