Tagliolini Baked in Broth (Bassotti)
Tagliolini baked in broth (bassotti) is a very old recipe from Romagna. Once upon a time, this dish was made in the embers of the kitchen hearth with pork bone stock. Today, of course, Italians make it in the oven and usually with beef or chicken stock.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 300 g tagliolini pasta ((10oz) fresh)
- 1 Lt beef or chicken broth ((2 pints) see below)
- 60 g butter ((1/4 cup) melted)
- 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano ((2oz) grated)
- breadcrumbs (as required)
- 2 beef shank cross cuts (you can also use stewing steak or other cuts. Cooking time may vary.)
- 2 meaty beef bones
- 2 carrots (washed and cut into chunks)
- 2 celery stalks (washed and cut into large pieces)
- 1 onion (peeled and cut into quarters)
- 1 handful fresh parsley (washed)
- salt (for pasta and for broth)
Instructions
- 1
To prepare the meat broth, start by preparing the vegetables. Wash the carrots and celery. Then cut the carrots into chunks and the celery into large pieces as well. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters. Wash the parsley. Put all the vegetables into a large pan with the parsley.
- 2
Add the beef shank cross cuts and bones to the pan, plus a generous pinch of salt. Cover the meat with 3 liters of water and cook it over a medium-high heat for about 2 hours, until the broth is reduced by about half.
- 3
During this time it will probably be necessary to skim off any fat that comes to the surface. When it is ready the broth will be thicker and reduced. If you think you need more liquid add some more water. Now you need to filter off about 1 liter of the broth to use for the pasta.
- 4
Parboil the pasta in boiling salted water. Fresh pasta really only needs blanching. You could do this in the filtered broth if you prefer!
- 5
Grease a baking dish with butter and make an even layer of par-boiled tagliolini. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and melted butter and dust with breadcrumbs. Bake until the top is browned slightly. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in enough broth to cover the pasta, then return the dish to the oven and bake at 160 degrees C until all the liquid has evaporated.
- 6
Remove from the oven. Let the pasta sit for 5 minutes and then cut the bassotti into squares and serve.