Growing up, my mother used to reminisce about pasta alla chitarra. Her descriptions - and the oohs and ahhs that always accompanied her memories - had me watering at the mouth and wishing I'd have the good fortune to try such a marvelous dish.Well, I finally realized my dream!
While traveling through Italy, we stayed a couple of days in the region of Abruzzo, where my mother was born and the home of pasta alla chitarra! An Abruzzo speciality, pasta alla chitarra is a flat pasta made with eggs that resemble fettucine. The pasta is stretched over a device called a chitarra that has metal string (like a guitar) that cuts the pasta. Traditionally - and how I enjoyed it - the pasta is served with polpettini (mini meatballs) that together swim in a luscious tomato sauce.
With my first taste, I was in heaven. The pasta was light as a feather and the its shape tickled my tongue. The meatballs were moist, and oh so yummy. But it was the sauce that had me swooning. The sauce tasted, smelled and had the consistency of Nonna E's sauce. Delicious!
I felt like I had come home.
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