Maccheroncini di Campofilone
mahk-keh-ron-CHEE-nee dee kahm-poh-fee-LOH-neh
Also known as maccheroncini di campofilone igp, maccheroncini di campofilone pgi.
Measured to scale. The illustrated portrait is in production.
Specifications
very thin flat egg ribbon
What it is
In 2013 these became the first egg pasta in Italy to be awarded an IGP, registered under EU Regulation (EC) No 1130/2013. Maccheroncini di Campofilone are an all-egg ribbon cut extremely fine in the town of Campofilone, in the province of Fermo in the Marche. The dough uses 7 to 10 eggs per kilo of flour or semola and no water, and the strands are rolled, cut very thin, and dried on paper. The pasta is documented from the 15th century, with references tied to the period of the Council of Trent, and the Touring Club Italiano noted it in its 1931 gastronomic guide. Because the ribbon is so thin it cooks in about a minute.
The name is the plural of maccheroncino, a diminutive of maccherone, the historical Italian word for pasta. Treccani lists maccheroncino as a diminutive of maccherone and traces the root to the Greek makar. Wiktionary defines maccheroncino as a small macaroni, used mainly in the plural. The diminutive fits the shape, which is among the thinnest egg ribbons cut in Italy.
What sauce it wants, and why
This is a very fine, porous all-egg ribbon, so it drinks up a light meat sauce rather than carrying a heavy one. The traditional dressing is a mixed-meat ragu marchigiano with plenty of pecorino. Near the coast a fish ragu is also used. The strands cook in roughly a minute, so the sauce should be ready first, and some cooks finish the pasta straight in the sauce without boiling.
Classic plates: maccheroncini di Campofilone al ragu marchigiano.
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Closest swaps by sauce behavior, not by looks. The ones most easily confused with maccheroncini di campofilone, and how they read.
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