Anolini in brodo
Tiny round ravioli filled with reduced stracotto (braised beef), breadcrumbs and Parmigiano, cooked and served in a clear, fragrant meat broth. The quintessence of Emilian comfort.
Tiny round ravioli filled with reduced stracotto (braised beef), breadcrumbs and Parmigiano, cooked and served in a clear, fragrant meat broth. The quintessence of Emilian comfort.
On Sundays, you see, the house smelled of broth from dawn — my grandmother put the meat to braise the night before, slowly, slowly, like preparing an adagio. The anolini, we pinched them one by one, very small, and counted our happiness by how many floated in the bowl. Never, ever serve a cloudy broth: it must be clear as a pure note! Blow on it, breathe it in, then drink it all hot: that's Parma on a winter Sunday.
- •Beef for braising — a good piece (filling (stracotto))
- •Red wine — a glass (braising)
- •Breadcrumbs — a handful (filling)
- •Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano — generously (filling)
- •Egg — one (binder)
- •Meat broth — in abundance (serving)
- •Flour and eggs — as needed (pasta)
Anolini in brodo
Tiny round ravioli filled with reduced stracotto (braised beef), breadcrumbs and Parmigiano, cooked and served in a clear, fragrant meat broth. The quintessence of Emilian comfort.
Why this dish? Anolini in brodo are the Sunday and Christmas dish par excellence in Parma. Small pasta stuffed with long-simmered braised beef and Parmesan, served in a clear broth. For a Parmesan like Toscanini, it was the comfort of the household and the Sunday ritual.
On Sundays, you see, the house smelled of broth from dawn — my grandmother put the meat to braise the night before, slowly, slowly, like preparing an adagio. The anolini, we pinched them one by one, very small, and counted our happiness by how many floated in the bowl. Never, ever serve a cloudy broth: it must be clear as a pure note! Blow on it, breathe it in, then drink it all hot: that's Parma on a winter Sunday.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef for braising — a good piece (filling (stracotto))
- Red wine — a glass (braising)
- Breadcrumbs — a handful (filling)
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano — generously (filling)
- Egg — one (binder)
- Meat broth — in abundance (serving)
- Flour and eggs — as needed (pasta)
Ingredients
- Beef chuck — 400 g (filling (stracotto))
- Full-bodied red wine — 200 ml (braising)
- Onion, carrot, celery — 1 each (braising)
- Fine breadcrumbs — 80 g (filling)
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano — 100 g (filling)
- Egg — 1 + 3 for pasta (binder and pasta)
- Type 00 flour — 300 g (pasta)
- Homemade beef broth — 1.5 L (serving)
Method
- The day before, braise the beef with vegetables and wine for 3 hours on low heat until it shreds.
- Finely chop the meat, mix with its reduced juice, breadcrumbs, Parmesan and egg: the filling should be compact. Let rest overnight.
- Prepare the egg pasta, roll it out very thinly.
- Place small balls of filling, cover with a second sheet and cut out anolini with a round cutter.
- Prepare a clear, well-degreased beef broth.
- Cook the anolini directly in the simmering broth for 4–5 minutes and serve piping hot, with a veil of Parmesan.
How it was made : The stracotto was cooked for hours on the corner of the wood-burning stove, and the filling always rested overnight to develop its flavor. The broth, made from bones and cheaper cuts from the week, wasted nothing. Anolini were traditionally counted by the dozen according to the appetite and rank of the guest.
The contemporary twist : Serve in small transparent consommé cups to show the anolini suspended, like notes on a staff.
Sources : Tradition culinaire de Parme et de Plaisance · Pellegrino Artusi, La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene, 1891
Arturo Toscanini · Charactorium