Being born in the Emilia-Romagna region, homemade pasta means egg pasta and when the Rieti-Viterbo Chamber of Commerce and theSpecial Agency of Central Italy involved me for Facebook Live to cook typical local dishes, I expected to prepare the ‘usual pasta’ and instead Sagne are something entirely different.

In fact, this homemade dough is prepared like a bread or pizza dough, but without using yeast. All you need is flour and water and a few tricks to prepare these delicious, plump pappardelle pasta that ‘doesn’t overcook’ because the first pasta thrown into the water ‘waits for the last one to be ready’, as the local experts connected from the Le tre porte restaurant in Rieti tell us.

The name ‘a la molenara’ indicates the way they were eaten by the ‘miller’, i.e. the person who prepared the flour and then cooked this type of pasta. Even today, the municipality of Cittaducale in August hosts a festival dedicated to this delicious dish.

The sauce is as in true Italian tradition, i.e. very simple, but prepared with extraordinary ingredients: a fragrant, flaming red tomato, the Pomodoro Ovalone Reatino P.A.T. (i.e. traditional Italian agri-food product) of the Tenuta San Giovanni Farm of Gianfranco Gianni and Petrucci Sabino PDO extra virgin olive oil.

Garlic and chilli peppers are the lively touch to a dish that is quick to prepare and suitable for all seasons: try it!

Homemade pasta Sagne a la molenara

carbohydrates 33.4g per 100g

Ingredients for the dough for 4-5 servings

• 400g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
• water
• a pinch of salt
• rice flour* for dusting

Ingredients for sauce

• 500g Ovalone tomato sauce
• 1 clove garlic
• marjoram
• Sabina PDO extra virgin olive oil
• chilli pepper
• grated Pecorino cheese for serving (not present in the original recipe)

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

1. Put the flour in a planetary mixer, add a pinch of salt and start mixing with the flat beater, adding lukewarm water until the dough is soft and similar to a pizza or bread dough.
2. Place the mixture on a pastry board floured with rice flour, form it into a loaf and leave it to rest covered with a tea towel. From time to time, knead the dough again.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Brown a clove of garlic in extra virgin olive oil, then pour in the Ovalone tomato sauce. Let the sauce cook for about 20 minutes, adding a drop of water if necessary and season with marjoram, salt and chilli pepper to taste.
4. Roll out the loaf to form a rectangle about 3-4mm thick. Cut 1-2cm wide strips by stretching them with your hands while laying them on the pastry board.

5. Put a large pot of water on the stove, bring it to the boil, salt it, and then throw in the Sagne: this dough does not overcook, so you don’t have to worry too much about the cooking time! Drain them anyway when you like the texture and throw them into a large non-stick frying pan with the tomato sauce to flavour them well.
6. Serve them possibly with grated Pecorino cheese, which, however, was not in the original recipe.

Version with gluten of homemade pasta Sagne alla molinara

Replace the Molino Dallagiovanna fresh pasta flour mix with an equal amount of wheat flour, adjusting the amount of water needed for kneading.