There are many options for cutting pasta dough, from many purposes Atlas 150 electric Fresh pasta In a knife of a simple old chef. But my favorite new method is actually a centuries -old tool: Citer.
A chitarra (pronounced key-tahr-hara) is a tool for cutting pasta greeted by Abruzzo in the central region of Italy. It contains stainless steel wires stretched through a wooden frame and resembles a wire instrument (chitarra means guitar in Italian). To use a chitarra, the rolled pasta sheets are pushed through the wires using a rotary peg, cutting the dough into long pasta strips. Noodles fall down on a steep woodenboard, where they can rotate in the nest to rest before cooking or dried in a shelf for subsequent use.
One advantage for this unique cutting technique is that it creates pasta with textured edges. The steel strings unallowed leave the square of the edges and give the yarn structure, rather than the round (like traditional spaghetti that is extruded by a dead cut), so the sauces are slightly glued. Traditionally, the alla chitarra spaghetti (sometimes called Maccheron alla Chitarra) is paired with meat -based rag sauce, though anything else like pesto or red sauce will also work well. This pasta cutter is also reversible: one side has wires away to make 5 millimeters of spaghetti thick, and on the other hand, you can make 3 millimeters thick tagliaatele.
Photo and styling of food by Liz Neily
Chitarra may not be the fastest way to cut pasta (for that, I recommend this fresco pasta) But it offers something else: a touching way to get involved in the long tradition of Italian cooking. It is a tool that is ancient old (with some records dating from the Middle Ages!), And despite technological advances, this pasta cutter has not changed much since it was invented. Its nostalgic charm has been preserved, and there is a reason that has yet been made and learned to this day.
If you are looking to slow down and make use of your experience of creating pasta (maybe with a glass of wine and a cooking companion to enjoy the process with it), cooking with chitarra is worth the effort.
Photographs by Patrick Marinello; Food styling by Yekaterina Bysova
Tips for the success of cutting chitarra pasta
- Do not roll the dough of the pasta larger than the wire area – so in the case of this comma pasta chitarra, approximately 6 “x 14”.
- Use two screws at the base of the frame to adjust the tightness of the wires as needed. Since the frame is made of wood and can spoil over time, use two screws to tighten the pasta cutting wires.
- To clean the chitarra, wait for each piece of dough to dry and paint them. Much is much easier than trying to fit everything in the sink of your kitchen to clean the cracks. (Plus, soaking it in water would cause the wood to break down!)
Citer
Has not yet been reviewed
$ 64.95
Cover the photo and styling food from Liz Neily.
