Sicilian ferretto maccheroni, like homemade Busiate, are one of the most appreciated types of fresh homemade pasta in Sicilian and southern Italian cuisine and pair beautifully with Pesto alla Trapanese. These maccheroni in particular are also made in Apulia, Calabria and beyond. They are a type of short pasta made from re-milled durum wheat semolina and water, made from a versatile dough that can also be used for cavatelli, gnocchetti sardi (mollareddus), orecchiette, trofie and much more. The recipe for maccheroni al ferretto is a grandmother’s recipe: traditionally the dough was rolled onto very thin knitting needles, much thinner than ordinary wool needles, and from this practice the name “al ferretto” (on the small iron rod) was born, or on the fibrous threads of the “busa”, which also gives the name busiate, a similar shape. Today the simplest solution is to use a wooden skewer, like the kind used for making rolled cutlets.This pasta can be eaten fresh straight away, requiring a short cooking time, or you can air-dry it in a ventilated, dry place and store it in a paper bag for a few weeks; in that case cooking times will be longer than for dried commercial pasta and may take about 10 to 15 minutes. The dough for maccheroni al ferretto is very simple to prepare and to work and requires no eggs. The length usually varies from about 2 to 3 inches, and they can be dressed with meat sauces, ragù, pestos or whatever your imagination suggests, even a tasty Pasta alla Norma.
Let’s go to the kitchen now and discover together how to make ferretto maccheroni. But as always before rolling up our sleeves, I remind you that if you want to stay updated on my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 14 oz (about 2 2/3 cups) fine re-milled durum wheat semolina
- 7 fl oz (about 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) water (hot)
Tools
- Ferretto (small metal rod or skewer)
Preparation
Fresh pasta is different from dried pasta and it does not expand while cooking; therefore I recommend mixing at least 100 g of flour per person (about 3.5 oz, roughly 3/4 cup).
Pour the flour into a bowl and add the very hot water little by little, stirring with a spoon. Turn everything out onto the work surface and knead the dough until it becomes compact and homogeneous.
Fresh pasta dough is very dry and rather difficult to work with. If the amount of water added is not sufficient, add a little more (remember that not all flours behave the same), but be careful not to obtain a soft dough because then you will not be able to form the busiate.
Form a ball as smooth and homogeneous as possible, cover it with a bowl and let it rest for about ten minutes. Then cut off a small piece and roll it into a long thin rope, keeping the rest of the dough covered so it does not dry out.
Divide the rope into equal pieces about 2 to 3 inches long and place a skewer on top of each piece. With a gentle pressure of the hand and a slow back-and-forth motion, make the pasta adhere to the skewer. Then carefully slide the pasta off the skewer and place it on a clean cloth (watch the video below for the full procedure).
Here is the step-by-step motion with photos.
The maccheroni al ferretto are ready for cooking. As with any other type of fresh pasta, plunge them into plenty of gently salted boiling water and they will cook in about two to three minutes from returning to a boil. Dress them with the sauce of your choice.
Storage and tips
If you intend to dry the pasta, place it in a basket where it can breathe and keep it in a dry, cool and ventilated place.
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