Homemade Spaghetti alla Chitarra
Cozze Ripiene (Stuffed Mussels)
Mussel-Infused Tomato Sauce
If you drive along the coast of southern Abruzzo, you will come across odd-looking wooden platforms that dot the shoreline, jutting out into the Adriatic Sea. These are trabocchi, fishing piers equipped with large nets attached to the ends of long, spindly poles, used for dragging in the catch of the day. Trabocchi were once used by contadini (farmers) who didn’t operate boats and were fearful of the water but wanted to avail themselves of the sea’s bounty. These days, the piers are working museum-restaurants, where you can climb aboard, learn how they operate, and enjoy a leisurely lunch of fresh Adriatic seafood.
Among the courses you might be served at one of these lunches are the dishes we’ll be making in this class:
Spaghetti alla Chitarra—Abruzzo’s signature square-cut noodle, traditionally made on a special instrument called a “guitar.”
Cozze Ripiene, fresh mussels steamed open and packed with a picante bread crumb stuffing, then neatly tied with string (to keep from opening) and simmered in tomato sauce.
Fresh Tomato Sauce, for simmering the mussels and for dressing the spaghetti alla chitarra.
This is a fun technique-oriented class. A couple of tools are recommended: a pasta machine to stretch the dough into sheets (though you can use a long rolling pin if necessary); and a “chitarra,” a wooden instrument strung with thin wires to cut the pasta sheets into square-cut noodles. If you don’t have or don’t want to purchase a chitarra, you can cut the noodles by hand or with a pasta machine cutter attachment. They won’t be quite the same, but they’ll still be delicious.
You will receive the recipes as well as a detailed list of ingredients and equipment needed a week before class. The day before class, you will receive an email with a link to the class online.
All classes take place on Zoom and generally run for 2 hours. Spaces are limited so that everyone can receive the individual instruction necessary to master pasta-making and shaping techniques.
So…how about it? Join me for a delicious seafood lunch on a virtual trabocco. We’ll roll out our pasta and stuff our mussels while dreaming of blue water and sea breezes.