Cannazze di Calitri

(serves 2 | 2.5 hours | medium)

The name has origins that date back to the ‘700s, when this long, tube shaped pasta used to be left to dry on canes, and was therefore called cannazza. It is the dish that represents and was cooked for young married couples, so it obviously had to be made with ziti, which in neapolitan dialect means ‘bride’.

200g ziti pasta – ½ a litre of passata – 1 onion – 2 garlic cloves – a handful of pine nuts – 4 slices of thinly cut veal – a handful of parsley – a handful of Parmigiano or Pecorino – extra virgin olive oil – salt and pepper

  1. Cut the onion and place it in a deep pan on medium heat with a few lugs of olive oil and let it brown, slowly. Then pour in the passata, cover with a lid and let it cook and reduce for two hours. 
  2. In the meantime, dice the garlic, pine nuts and parsley and mix together in a bowl, with a tablespoon of olive oil and cheese, season with salt and pepper to taste. 
  3. Pound the veal slices so they are thin and even, then spread the pine nut mix over the whole slice and roll it up, fastening it with two toothpicks on either side. Repeat for all veal slices. 
  4. Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a pan, add a crushed garlic clove and then the veal wraps. Sautèe them on each side until slightly crispy, for a few minutes, then add them to the pot with the tomato sauce and let everything simmer together for 1 hour and 30 minutes. 
  5. Break the ziti into three pieces and throw them into a pot of boiling water, then cook according to packet instructions. Drain the pasta, when al dente, and place in a large container. 
  6. Pour in the tomato sauce, little by little, into the pasta, then add a generous serving of parmigiano or pecorino and the braciole to top everything off.