Homemade pasta tubes

With just four ingredients you can make this delicious first course, perfect for the colder months and appreciated by everyone, large and small! These homemade pasta tubes, known as ‘Passatelli’ in Italian, are a very popular dish in the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions. Nowadays, because of its versatility, many chefs have been inspired to make it, not only in capon broth as the traditional recipe teaches, but also dry or accompanied by truffles or fish broth. Although their preparation traditionally required a special ‘ferro per passatelli’, with a common potato sieve you can still impress your guests with this lovely dish.

Prepare all the ingredients. In a bowl, break 1 whole egg and 5 egg yolks. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Beat the egg mixture with a spoon. Combine the breadcrumbs and cheese and mix well. Add the beaten egg mixture to the bread and cheese. Start mixing together with a spoon, then finish with your hands until you get a smooth and reasonable firm dough. Using one of those utensils for pureeing or ‘sieving’ mashed potato, press the dough mixture through it onto a clean cloth. Cut to a length of 3-4 cm. Cook the pasta tubes in meat stock, preferably made from capon (castrated male chicken), for about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve hot.