Anolini in brodo (meat filled pasta in chicken broth)

A traditional northern Italian dish. Homemade pasta is stuffed with a hearty mix of slowly cooked beef and veal, and served in a bowl of broth.

Ingredients

For the anolini in brodo

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 500g/1lb 2oz beef sirloin steak
• 200g/7oz veal rump steak
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 bay leaves
• 300ml/10fl oz red wine
• 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
• 100g/3¾oz fresh white breadcrumbs
• 250g/9oz Parmesan, finely grated

For the broth

• 1 x 1.5–2kg/3lb 5oz–4lb 8oz whole chicken, preferably organic
• 500g/1lb 2oz beef shin
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped

For the pasta

• 400g/14oz ’00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
• 4 free-range eggs, beaten
• pinch salt

Method

1. For the anolini, heat the oil in a large, lidded casserole dish. Add the beef sirloin and veal and seal all over. Remove from the pan and rest on a plate.

2. Cook the onion, carrots and celery in the casserole for 5–8 minutes. Add the tomato purée and cook for 1–2 minutes.

3. Put the meat back in the pan. Add the bay leaf and wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the stock, put the lid on and cook for 3–4 hours.

4. Remove the cooked meat and shred it. Remove the vegetables and mash them in a bowl with a little of the cooking liquor. Season to taste. Mix in the meat, breadcrumbs and nearly all the Parmesan, keeping some for serving. Add more breadcrumbs if you need them to make a firm mixture.

5. For the broth, put the chicken, beef shin, carrot, onion, celery and garlic in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours. Strain the liquor, keeping the broth and discarding the vegetables. Reserve the chicken and beef for another meal or your second course.

6. To make the pasta, in a food processor, mix the flour, eggs and salt. If the mixture is too dry, add a little water. Dust a work surface with a little flour and knead the mixture until it forms a dough. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

7. Dust the pasta with a little flour, then roll it out using a pasta machine until it is about 2mm thick (around setting number five on the pasta machine). Alternatively, roll out the dough using a rolling pin.

8. Lay a sheet of pasta on a floured work surface and spoon a teaspoon of the meat mixture along the pasta leaving 2cm/¾in gap between each pile. Lay another sheet of pasta on top, taking out the air, and cut into parcels. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 1–2 minutes.

9. To serve, reheat the chicken broth. Divide the parcels between the serving bowls, ladle over the stock and sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan.

Source: BBC