Comments on: Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Tiny Meatballs (Maccheroni alla Chitarra con le Pallottine)

By: Tina Prestia

Tina Prestia — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 20:54:33 +0000

In reply to Renee. Hello Renee! I’m so glad that you found me. I hope that the recipe takes you back. It’s such a special and delicious dish. Happy cooking!

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:40:23 +0000

I am so delighted to have found this recipe! Back in 2017, I traveled to Teramo and had spaghetti alla chitarra with tiny meatballs at the little hotel where I stayed. Ever since then, I’ve dreamt of that flavorful sauce and those delectable little meatballs! I was thinking of them while looking for a dinner recipe and searched for “mini meatballs.” Nothing like what I was imagining came up until I changed the search to “tiny mini meatballs” and what should appear, but a recipe for the exact food I’d been dreaming of! I can’t wait to try to recreate a little Teramo culinary magic here in Colorado.

By: Tina Prestia

Tina Prestia — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:28:56 +0000

In reply to Frank | Memorie di Angelina. Thanks for reading Frank! You may have noticed that I didn’t even go there to say whether spaghetti and meatballs as we know it exists or not in Italy! I’ll leave that to the historians! Hah! You definitely should try the dish. It’s delicious and so satisfying.

By: Frank | Memorie di Angelina

Frank | Memorie di Angelina — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 14:18:11 +0000

What a lovely dish. I’ve known about it and have been meaning to blog about it. But haven’t yet had a chance to try it or make it, unfortunately. It (sort of) gives lie to the idea that spaghetti and meatballs don’t exist in Italy. Just goes to show that when it comes to Italian cookery, you should never say never…

By: Tina Prestia

Tina Prestia — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 12:30:10 +0000

In reply to Mary Ann. It’s all so fascinating. My dad was from Calabria. Once I brought my cousins some good quality ‘nduja and they’d never had it! Even though it’s Calabrese, it is from a completely different area. Now it’s more popular everywhere but at the time, it was still localized. That’s why it’s always so fun to explore. The cuisine is so rich and full of treasures.

By: Mary Ann

Mary Ann — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 22:45:23 +0000

She did make stracciatella with the pallottine at times along with spinach. So many variations. Timballo is another dish I’m not familiar with because again my mother never made it. It’s so interesting how certain recipes are traditional not only to a particular region but also exclusive to certain towns. We make a traditional dish called intreme. My husband whose family is also from Abruzzo had never heard of it until he met me. The same holds true for me though when it comes to some of his family’s recipes.

By: Tina Prestia

Tina Prestia — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 20:32:29 +0000

In reply to Mary Ann. Thank you so much for the feedback Mary Ann! Rabbit. How interesting! I’m sure it’s scrumptious. There are so many ways to make the ragù. This is just one option! I might try the ground meat version next and then the soffritto and tomato one too. Did your mom make stracciatella with the pallottine or simply broth with meatballs? It’s all so delicious. I want timballo now…

By: Mary Ann

Mary Ann — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 19:20:54 +0000

In reply to Tina Prestia. My mother never made polpettine for sauce. She made them for broth but not sauce. I’m not sure why. I follow my mother’s way of making sauce. She never used a soffrito. It was strictly onion. Garlic is added but not chopped. It simply goes in as an entire clove. We use veal for the ground meat and for the sauce my mother liked to use pork ribs and sausages. I use rabbit for my sauce along with some sausage and like my mom I use ground veal. Like you, no garlic in the polpettine or at least very very little. I differ from my mom where I do add a tiny splash of white wine. I do this only when I’m using rabbit in the sauce or lamb. We do add a couple sprigs fresh parsley, a basil leaf and a sprig of marjoram, which get fished out at the end. For the pasta, like you after many trials I found semola di grano duro works best with the chitarra for me as well. Your sauce looks exquisite and I wish I could sit down to a bowl of it or two ;)

By: Tina Prestia

Tina Prestia — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 16:55:19 +0000

Thanks Mary Ann! Does this differ a lot from how you make it? Do you make it like this or with the soffritto only?