Crioli (Crejoli)

Crioli belong to the hand-made pasta tradition of inland Molise, made without a machine from a stiff dough of flour and egg in roughly equal parts and cut with the knife into thick, square-sided strands. The shape takes its name from the crioli, the leather laces of the ciocie, the rustic footwear once worn by the region's shepherds, whose long thongs the pasta resembles. Where maccheroni alla chitarra get their square edge from being pressed through a wire-strung frame, crioli are squared by hand at the board; the shape stands beside cavatelli, fusilli and sagne as one of Molise's own. It is dressed by town and season, from the shepherds' pecorino and prosciutto to muscovy-duck sauce and meat ragu.

Substantial and toothsome, the thick square strands give real chew and hold their shape under a heavy sauce, catching ragu or melting pecorino in the grooves left by the knife. Eggy and wheaten in flavour, they eat more rustic and hearty than fine ribbon pasta.

An egg-and-flour dough builds a strong gluten network as it is kneaded, and the egg proteins set on boiling to give the strands their firm, springy bite, while the yolk's fat and lecithin keep them tender rather than tough. The squared cross-section, cut thick by knife, offers more surface and sharper edges than a round strand, so a clinging sauce grips the flat faces and the corners; the slightly rough surface of hand-rolled dough holds sauce better than a smooth machined one.