TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Spaghetti alla Chitarra con Ragù d'AgnelloSpaghetti alla Chitarra with Lamb Ragù

Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Lamb Ragù
Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep20 min Cook2 hr 10 min servings4

Abruzzo’s guitar-cut pasta with lamb ragù. Shoulder simmers for 2 hours with red wine, rosemary and red pepper, merging sweetness and wild character. Square-section chitarra grips the ragù firmly, with a robustness slender spaghetti cannot offer.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Dried spaghetti alla chitarra320 g
  • Boneless lamb shoulder or legCut into 2 cm dice and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.500 g
  • Red bell pepperCut lengthwise into strips about 1 cm wide. A characteristic Abruzzo ingredient.2 pieces (about 300 g)
  • OnionCoarsely chopped.1 medium piece
  • GarlicFinely chopped.3 cloves
  • Canned whole peeled tomatoes400 g
  • Red wine150 ml
  • Fresh rosemary2 sprigs
  • Dried red chili1 piece
  • Extra virgin olive oil60 ml
  • Grated Pecorino cheesePecorino Romano or Pecorino d’Abruzzo, to finish.60 g
  • SaltFor seasoning ragù and pasta water, as needed for each.10 g
  • Coarsely ground black pepper2 g
  • Cake flourCoat the lamb. Encourages browning and locks in savor.30 g

Method

17 min

Flour the lamb

  • 1 Cut the lamb shoulder into 2 cm dice and carefully pat dry with paper towels.
  • 2 Coat all over with 30 g flour and lightly shake off excess.
28 min

Cut the vegetables

  • 1 Coarsely chop the onion.
  • 2 Finely chop the garlic.
  • 3 Cut the red pepper lengthwise into strips 1 cm wide.
38 min

Brown the lamb

  • 1 Heat 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over high heat and brown the lamb without overlapping, 1–2 minutes per face, 6–8 minutes total.
  • 2 Remove when browned.

Caution

Even if the meat sticks, wait until browned before moving it; moving early prevents a good crust.

46 min

Sauté the onion

  • 1 Add the remaining olive oil to the same pot, reduce to medium heat and sauté the onion for 5–6 minutes.

Ready when

Continue when translucent and soft.

54 min

Add garlic and reduce red wine

  • 1 Add garlic and dried chili and sauté for 1 minute.
  • 2 When fragrant, add 150 ml red wine and evaporate the alcohol over high heat for 2–3 minutes.
  • 3 Scrape browned deposits from the bottom with a wooden spoon to dissolve them.
61 hr 40 min

Simmer the ragù gently

  • 1 Return the lamb to the pot.
  • 2 Add 400 g canned whole tomatoes, crushing them by hand.
  • 3 Add 2 whole rosemary sprigs, 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper and stir.
  • 4 Bring to the boil, reduce to low and simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 90–100 minutes.
720 min

Add pepper and heat pasta water

  • 1 MeanwhileWhile the ragù simmers, with about 20 minutes remaining, start boiling a large pot of water, with 10 g salt per 1 L.
  • 2 Add the red pepper and simmer together for the final 20 minutes.

Ready when

The pepper should retain some texture rather than dissolve completely.

85 min

Break up lamb and season

  • 1 Remove the rosemary stems.
  • 2 Break the lamb with 2 forks into the ragù, leaving pieces around 2–3 cm rather than shredding completely.
  • 3 Season with salt and black pepper.
910 min

Cook the chitarra

  • 1 Add spaghetti alla chitarra to boiling salted water and cook for 1 minute less than the package time.
  • 2 Reserve 150 ml cooking water.
103 min

Toss pasta with ragù

  • 1 Remove the chitarra al dente and transfer to the ragù pot.
  • 2 Toss over medium-high heat for 1–2 minutes, adding cooking water as needed to adjust the sauce.
  • 3 When the sauce firmly coats all strands, plate and generously grate Pecorino over the top.
A view of Gran Sasso, Abruzzo
Gran Sasso, AbruzzoItaly Photo: Rabih omeiri · CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Abruzzo is sometimes called the kingdom of lamb. Sheep have long grazed its inland mountains, and lamb lies at the center of local cooking. Spaghetti alla chitarra, guitar pasta, has an inseparable relationship with it.

A chitarra is a dedicated wooden frame strung with fine metal wires like a guitar. Egg dough is pressed through to make square-section noodles. Unlike round spaghetti, their four corners increase the area that catches sauce. Dried chitarra is now widespread and readily available too.

Pairing lamb ragù with rosemary and red pepper is the Abruzzo style. Long simmering removes any troubling lamb odor and leaves a sweet, rich savor instead.

Chef Authen

Bring the full course home next weekend.

Bring every dish to the table at its best.

Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.

  • One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
  • One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
  • Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.
Download on the App Store