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Agnolotti del plin

Piedmont's tiny pinched pasta parcels filled with roast veal, pork and beef, in sage butter

In the Langhe and Monferrato hills of Piedmont, agnolotti del plin are the Sunday and feast-day pasta, made from whatever roast was left from the day before and pinched shut with a quick twist of the fingers (plin means pinch in dialect). Each parcel is barely a mouthful of thin egg pasta around a savoury filling of roast veal, pork shoulder and beef with a little cabbage, egg and parmigiano, so this is a pork dish as well as a veal one. In the trattorie of Alba they arrive either glossed with butter and sage or simply dressed in the reduced roasting juices, sometimes with no plate at all, served in a napkin. They want nothing alongside except a green salad afterwards. Chef's tip: keep the filling quite firm and the blobs small, no bigger than a hazelnut, or the pasta will not seal tightly around them.
Total time
270 min
Difficulty
hard
Serves
6
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Ingredients

Serves6

For the roast filling

For the pasta

For the sauce

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Method

0/12 done
  1. Step 1: Season 10 ½ oz veal shoulder, 10 ½ oz pork shoulder and 7 oz beef chuck with half the ½ tsp salt. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 oz butter in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat and brown the meat in batches until deep brown on all sides.

    15 min
  2. Step 2: Add 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 garlic and 2 sprig rosemary, stir for 5 minutes, then pour in 1 ¾ cups beef stock. Cover and cook in the oven at 325°F until the meat is fork-tender and falls apart when pressed.

    120 min
  3. Step 3: Meanwhile, blanch 5 ½ oz Savoy cabbage leaves in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, drain, cool and squeeze out every drop of water.

    6 min
  4. Step 4: Lift the meat and vegetables out (discard the rosemary stalks) and pour the juices into a small pan. Boil the juices until reduced to about 150 ml and they coat a spoon; keep them for serving if you like.

    10 min
  5. Step 5: Mince the meat, vegetables and cabbage finely in a food processor or mincer. Mix in 2 ⅞ oz parmigiano reggiano, 1 egg, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp black pepper, the rest of the ½ tsp salt and 2–3 tablespoons of the juices; it should be moist but hold its shape. Chill while you make the pasta.

  6. Step 6: Heap 14 oz tipo 00 flour on the worktop, make a well and add 4 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Beat with a fork, drawing in the flour, then knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

    40 min
  7. Step 7: Roll a quarter of the dough very thinly with a pasta machine (second-thinnest setting) into a long strip about 8 cm wide; you should just see your hand through it. Keep the rest covered.

  8. Step 8: Pipe or spoon hazelnut-sized blobs of filling in a line along the strip, 1.5 cm in from the edge and 2 cm apart. Fold the near edge over to cover them and press down between each blob.

  9. Step 9: Pinch the pasta between each blob with thumb and forefinger to make a little pleat, then cut along the strip with a fluted wheel to separate the parcels. Don't leave air pockets around the filling: that is the most common reason agnolotti burst in the water. Lay them on a floured tray and repeat with the rest of the dough.

  10. Step 10: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a gentle boil. Cook the agnolotti in two batches until they float and the pasta at the pleats is tender, 2–3 minutes.

    6 min
  11. Step 11: While they cook, melt 3 ½ oz butter with 12 sage leaves in a wide pan over a medium heat until it foams and smells nutty and the sage crisps.

    3 min
  12. Step 12: Lift the agnolotti into the butter with a slotted spoon, toss gently with a splash of cooking water until glossy and serve with 1 oz parmigiano reggiano, to serve, or spoon the warm reduced roasting juices over instead of the butter.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
640 kcal
Protein
36 g
Carbs
52 g
Fat
31 g
Fibre
3 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does agnolotti del plin take?
About 270 minutes in total: 120 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
What can I use instead of butter?
The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
What can I use instead of onion?
2 shallots per onion.

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