CookEat Recipe
Pasticcio di Maccheroni alla Romagnola
A festive mound of long macaroni, giblets, sweetbreads, truffle and creamy sauce beneath a lemon-scented sweet shortcrust cover.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 350 g long thick-walled macaroni with a narrow hollow centre; 170 g grated Parmesan; 150 g professionally prepared lamb sweetbreads, trimmed; 70 g fresh truffle, cleaned and thinly sliced; 30 g prosciutto containing fat and lean, cut into small strips; About 15 g dried porcini mushrooms; The prepared giblets from 3–4 chickens, about 350 g total; keep livers, hearts and cleaned gizzards separate; 290 g butter: 20 g for the jus, 180 g for the pastry, 25 g for the white sauce, 30 g for cooking the giblets, 30 g between the pasta layers and 5 g for the dish; 500 g plain flour for the pastry, plus 5 g for the white sauce and a little for rolling; 220 g icing sugar or very finely ground white sugar; 70 g plain lard; 2 whole eggs and 2 additional egg yolks: 1 yolk for the pastry and 1 for glazing; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 250 ml milk for the white sauce; 500 g lean beef trimmings for the jus, cut into small pieces; 50 g pancetta, thinly sliced, for the jus; 1 large onion, sliced; 1 carrot, sliced; 1 celery stalk, sliced; 2 cloves; 1½ litres hot water for the jus, plus 3 small ladlefuls cold water for deglazing and extra hot water as needed; Salt, a little black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
Step 2
Start the meat jus early, or prepare it the day before. Line a heavy casserole with the pancetta slices, then the onion, carrot and celery. Add the separate 20 g butter in small pieces and spread the beef over the vegetables. Add a little salt and the 2 cloves. Heat without stirring until the onions underneath are deeply browned, then turn the beef and brown it thoroughly. Aim for dark brown, not acrid burnt black. Add one small ladleful cold water, loosen the browned juices and let it nearly evaporate; repeat with two more small ladlefuls.
Step 3
Add the 1½ litres hot water and simmer very gently for 5–6 hours, adding a little more hot water if needed to avoid drying out. Strain. The yield varies: reserve all the concentrated jus for the pasta and giblets. Cool promptly in shallow containers, using an ice-water bath if helpful, and refrigerate within 2 hours at 4°C or colder. Once the fat has set, lift it off. Use within 2–3 days and bring the jus back to at least 74°C when using it. Refrigerate any retained cooked beef separately on the same schedule.
Step 4
While the jus cooks, make the full batch of shortcrust. Mix the 500 g flour and 220 g fine sugar with the lemon zest. Work in 180 g pliable butter and the 70 g lard with a knife or fingertips. Add the 2 whole eggs and 1 yolk, bringing the dough together with as little handling as possible. If a few dry crumbs will not join, add a few drops of water. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Keep the remaining yolk for glazing.
Step 5
For the white sauce, melt 25 g butter with the separate 5 g flour and stir until the flour just begins to turn pale hazelnut. Gradually add the 250 ml milk, stirring, then simmer for about 8–10 minutes until smooth and cream-like. Keep covered. Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, then lift out, rinse away any grit and chop; discard the soaking water.
Step 6
Trim the prepared gizzards of tough tissue and ensure their contents and lining have been removed by the supplier. Cut the gizzards and hearts into small pieces. Gently fry them in 30 g butter with a little salt and pepper, add about two-fifths of the hot jus and simmer covered for 60–90 minutes until tender, adding hot water as needed. Cut the prepared sweetbreads into small walnut-sized pieces and add for the last 20–25 minutes. Add the liver pieces for the last 10–15 minutes. Check all the organs reach at least 74°C. Once cooked, cut any large pieces down to small walnut size.
Step 7
Stir the prosciutto strips, thin truffle slices, soaked chopped mushrooms and a few pinches of nutmeg into the cooked giblets and sweetbreads. Simmer gently for 5 minutes to heat everything through, retaining a little sauce. Meanwhile boil the long macaroni in salted water for about half its usual cooking time, drain and transfer to a broad pan with the remaining three-fifths of the hot jus. Finish cooking over very low heat, turning gently without breaking the strands and adding small splashes of hot water if needed. Keep the pasta moist but drain off any excess liquid before assembly.
Step 8
Heat the oven to 190°C. Butter a large ovenproof serving dish with the remaining 5 g butter. Put in a layer of macaroni, then scatter with some Parmesan, small pieces from the reserved 30 g butter, spoonfuls of white sauce and some giblet mixture. Repeat until everything is used, making a mound. There is no pastry lining beneath the macaroni.
Step 9
Roll the chilled shortcrust to about 3 mm thick on a lightly floured surface. Cover the entire mound down to its base. From the remaining pastry cut two strips about 3–4 cm wide and lay them across the top in a cross. Add a band around the dish rim and a small pastry bow on top; use remaining dough for simple decorations without making the cover excessively thick. Brush the surface with the reserved egg yolk.
Step 10
Bake for about 40–55 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden, including its edges, and the centre of the filled pasticcio reaches at least 74°C. Shield the pastry loosely if it browns before the filling is hot. Rest for about 10 minutes and serve hot, cutting through the sweet cover into the savoury layers.
Step 11
For the optional traditional additions, use only professionally prepared rooster combs, rooster testicles or undeveloped hen egg yolks sold for human consumption by an inspected supplier. About 50–100 g combined is a practical allowance. Simmer cleaned combs with the gizzards until tender; add small pieces of testicles or undeveloped yolks with the sweetbreads and cook every addition to at least 74°C. Do not harvest these at home or substitute cooked beans for the rooster testicles.
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