Sagnette, tacconelle or sagne a pezzi” [*] are between the typical Central Italy pasta shapes. Their names and sizes may vary, but their main feature is that they are a flour-n-water dough.

As for Italian basic meal this was the way pasta was made. On Sundays, however, eggs were added for a celebratory pasta like spaghetti alla chitarra, ravioli or lasagne.

Sagnette match perfectly with legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils) and pork cheek, bacon or pork rind. This recipe includes some local basic ingredients like chickpeas, chicory and sun-dried peppers.

• Note: [*] The Italian “gn” sounds like “ny”. Sagnie – Sanye; Sagnette – Sanyette.
• For some recipes check the links by the end of this post

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Recipe: Sara’s Sagnette Pasta with Chickpeas and Cicoria

Ingredients

for pasta

• 200 g durum wheat semolina
• 200 g plain flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 glasses of lukewarm water (or as needed)

for condiment

• 300 g fresh chicory
• 300 g cooked chickpeas
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 1 sun-dried pepper (chopped) – here’s from Altino, (Chieti)
• 1/2 onion
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• olive oil evo (?)

Directions

• Start with dough – Pour the flours on the board, add salt and some water (as much as is necessary), mix and knead until you get a smooth block.
• Let it rest for about 30 minutes.

• Move to condiment – In a saucepan gently sautée the chopped onion with a dash of oil, add anchovies and stir. Then add the chickpeas, season to taste and let it cook for few minutes.
• Stir in the chicory, sun-dried pepper and a ladle of boiling water. Cook for a few more minutes, until the chicory soften. Set aside for later.

• Back to pasta dough – To prepare the “Sagnette”. Lightly dust the board and the dough with some flour, and, with a rolling pin, roll out the pasta until you get a 3 mm thick sheet.
• Cut in strips of about 1 cm large (like tagliatelle), overlap 3 strips and start cutting across the “sagnette”, the chunks should be about 4 cm.

Time to cook! Boil the sagnette in salted boiling water, when ready (between 8 to 10 minutes) drain it and stir them into the pan with the condiment. Sautée over high heat and serve immediately.

Here are some delicious recipes for pasta lovers to try out:

• Cappellacci Pasta
• Scrippelle Surprise
• Gluten Free Veggies Dumplings