Pasta allo sparone or “pasta a lu sparone” is a delicious first course, a very valid alternative to my lasagna rolls with zucchini and ham, a traditional recipe from Abruzzo, Teramo, perfect to serve on the table when you have friends or family for dinner.
The pasta allo sparone gets its name from the “spara” or “sparone”, which is the tea towel in which the pasta roll is wrapped to be cooked in boiling water before being sliced and gratinated in the oven.
To prepare the pasta sheet for pasta allo sparone, I used my recipe for homemade pasta, and it is almost necessary to prepare it at home as the sheet must be thin and very large, so the sheets bought ready at the fridge counter risk opening during cooking, causing all the filling to spill out.
This traditional Abruzzo recipe does not include the use of homemade béchamel, but if you want to add a little, you can prepare it at home and then pour some on the base and surface of the pasta allo sparone.
You can always find my recipes on my Facebook page HERE, or on my Instagram page HERE.
If you liked this pasta allo sparone recipe, you might also be interested in:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7.05 oz re-milled durum wheat semolina
- 2 eggs
- 14.11 oz fresh spinach
- 8.82 oz ricotta
- 1 egg
- salt
- pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- celery
- 10.58 oz ground meat
- 6.76 fl oz tomato pulp
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
Preparation
Pour the re-milled durum wheat semolina in a well shape on the work surface, create a hole in the center.
Pour the two eggs into the center of the well.
Start beating the eggs with a fork.
When the dough starts to become firmer, start kneading by hand, more and more energetically, until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Cover the dough with food wrap and let it rest for the time needed to prepare the filling for the pasta allo sparone.
Wash and clean the spinach.
Cook the spinach in a pan until they wilt and become soft.
Transfer the cooked and drained spinach onto the work surface and chop them finely with a knife. Transfer them to a bowl and let them cool completely.
As soon as the spinach have cooled, add the ricotta and the egg.
Also add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper to the filling.
Mix everything to obtain a well-combined filling.
Dust the work surface with a little semolina and start rolling out the pasta sheet for the pasta allo sparone.
The sheet should be quite large and about 1 mm thin.
Spread the spinach filling over the pasta.
Fold the edges inward to form a sort of rectangle and to prevent the filling from leaking during cooking.
Roll the sheet on itself to obtain a tightly rolled and sealed roll.
Place the roll of pasta and spinach in the center of a white cotton tea towel. It is important that the tea towel is white to absolutely avoid it releasing colors during cooking.
Roll the pasta inside the tea towel and seal the ends with strings.
Boil water in a very large pot and place the pasta roll inside.
After 40 minutes of cooking, drain the pasta and immediately remove the roll from the tea towel, being careful not to burn yourself.
Then let the pasta roll cool on the work surface.
Cut the roll into slices about 0.8 inches thick.
Once the meat sauce is also prepared, place a good amount on the bottom of the baking dish.
Arrange the pasta slices in the baking dish neatly.
Cover all the lasagna rolls with more abundant meat sauce and finish with a generous sprinkle of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Bake in a static oven at 392°F and gratinate for about 15-20 minutes.
Serve hot at the table!
STORAGE
Store the pasta allo sparone in the fridge, closed in an airtight food container, for up to a maximum of 3 days.
