Rigatoni con La Pajata ___

Rigatoni con La Pajata

Ingredients

For the Pajata:

  • 1 pound rigatoni
  • 2 pounds Pajata of Veal or Lamb
  • 4 ounces pancetta cut in thin strips
  • 4 cups peeled tomatoes
  • medium onion
  • 1 stalk of celery
  • 1 tablespoons fresh parsley
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3 cloves
  • 0.5 cup white wine
  • grated Pecorino cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup vinegar

Directions

First of all La Pajata must be freed of the skin layer that surrounds it.  With a small sharp knife, make a small cut on one end of the intestine and pull it as if you were removing a glove. Do this delicately as you do not want to break open La Pajata.

Now you need to form little donuts. With a cooking string, every 7" ties two knots distanced about 1/2" from each other. Repeat for the entire length of the intestine. Cut each section and then tie the two extremities together to form little donuts.

Put all the donuts in a drainer , wash them under fresh water and then put the drainer with the donuts in a bowl full of water and the vinegar. After 10 minutes, rinse and let the donuts drain well.

In a pot, add 4 Tbs of EV olive oil, the pancetta, the garlic, the onion and the celery and let them saute`.

Once the garlic turns golden, remove it and add La Pajata. Add some salt, pepper and the cloves and continue to saute`.

Add the white wine and once it has evaporated, add the tomatoes and a cup of hot water.

Let everything cook at low flame for about two hours. If the sauce gets dry add some more hot water. The final sauce should be rather dense.

Boil the rigatoni and once they very Al Dente, drain them well and add them to the pot with the sauce to complete the cooking process.

Serve with pecorino cheese and fresh parsley.