-
1
To mix, beat the egg lightly, then stir in the bread crumbs, salt, and cheese.
-
2
Blend thoroughly to form a dense and somewhat sticky paste (see illustrations).
-
3
Cover the dough and refrigerate now if you want, for up to 2 days.
-
4
To make the passatelli, flatten the dough on a floured board and roll into a rough rectangular shape, 1/4 inch thick or a bit less, if it will stretch without breaking.
-
5
Cut the dough lengthwise every 1/4 inch into long sticks; cut these into 3-inch pieces (on the bias for a decorative touch).
-
6
Toss lightly in flour, then lay out on a tray or baking sheet, covered with a towel, until youre ready to cook them.
-
7
They can be frozen at this point and dropped into the boiling soup to cook frozen.
-
8
Cook about 1/2 cup of cut pieces per serving.
-
9
Bring seasoned broth to an active boil, drop in the passatelli, and boil for 4 to 5 minutes (or a bit longer if they are thick), until they are soft but still hold their shape.
-
10
In Italy, traditional round strands of passatelli are shaped with a special tool somewhat like a potato masher, with a heavy-duty perforated sheet that is pressed into the dough.
-
11
With enough pressure, the dough is forced up through the holes, forming spaghetti-like pieces.
-
12
I have one of these, a handheld cylindrical extruder, at home and it works well most of the time.
-
13
But you have to be careful about the density of the dough; it must be neither too hard nor too soft.
-
14
A good alternativeand one that I hope many of you can tryis to use an electric meat grinder or the meat grinder attachment for a food processor.
-
15
You set it up as usual with a disk of medium or large holes, but without the rotary cutting blade.
-
16
The machine will now act as an extruder rather than a grinder: you drop the dough into the hopper and the auger will do the work, pushing it out the holes in a continuous stream of perfect passatelli.
-
17
Let them fall onto a tray or plate and break naturally into pieces (or cut them shorter).
-
18
Cook them as in the recipe below.
