Maccheroni alla molinara or alla mugnaia (Abruzzese dialect) is an uneven, long and thick fresh

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...

that is hand-pulled to a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

of about 4–6 mm.

Preparation

It is made using only water and

durum wheat Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represe ...

flour. The name literally translates to "the miller’s wife’s pasta". The pasta is characteristic of the province of Teramo and Pescara in the Abruzzo, Italy. These are manufactured by working the dough until it gets a hole in its center. The process requires trained hands that, facing one another, are able to slip into the hole to knead the dough in a circle, and gradually lengthening the ring to get a long noodle. This is then cut to length, generally about twice as long as a normal spaghetti, or served as one giant noodle loop with up to 10 meters in length. This pasta remains relatively unknown since it is typically served only in homes and at festivals, and it represents a dying trait even in Abruzzo.

History

The history of this pasta dates back to the 14th century coinciding with the construction of watermills on the river Fino. Back then it was presented to

King Robert of Naples Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Ita ...

when he visited the area.

References

{{Reflist Cuisine of Abruzzo Types of pasta