Maccheroni alla Chitarra

Maccheroni alla chitarra are the signature pasta of Abruzzo, attributed to the chitarra wire-cutter built by sieve-makers in San Martino sulla Marrucina (Chieti province) around 1860, after steel wire was introduced from Germany — though the dish itself (square-section pasta) goes back further. The 'guitar' has parallel steel wires stretched over a wooden frame; rolled pasta sheet placed on top and pressed with a rolling pin falls through as squared strands. The shape is functional: square edges hold ragù better than round (more surface area). The canonical sauce is ragù di castrato e maiale (mutton + pork shoulder) braised 4 hours with tomato, white wine, and rosemary — a mountain ragù from the same pastoral kitchen that produced arrosticini.

A square-section strand of chitarra pasta has visibly different geometry from spaghetti — you can see the corners. The bite is more substantial than round pasta; the texture is firmer (less flour mass relative to surface), and the ragù clings to the corners. The lamb-pork mix gives a meatier ragù than either alone — pork supplies fat and umami, mutton supplies depth. Three hours of low simmer means the meat is shredded-tender, not chunky. Pecorino on top is sharp-salty and ties everything to the Abruzzo highlands where the cheese was made.

The 2mm-square cross-section has 33% more surface area than a 2mm-diameter round strand, so each gram of pasta carries more sauce. The squared corners also catch and hold sauce mechanically. Egg-rich dough (4.5 eggs per 400g flour) means the cooked pasta is springy-elastic rather than starchy-soft — the eggs supply protein structure. Slow 3-hour braise breaks down lamb collagen completely (collagen is harder to dissolve than pork connective tissue), which is why mutton in a quick ragù tastes tough.