Ceppe

Ceppe are a homemade pasta of semolina and water, typical of inland Teramo. Long thin strips of pasta are rolled around a stick (the ceppa), which is then slipped out: what remains is a hollow, irregular, rough macaroni.

The classic sauce is a mixed meat ragù, often with lamb and pork, which gets inside the pasta. It is served with plenty of pecorino.

For the ceppe

• 400 g fine durum wheat semolina
• About 200 ml lukewarm water
• A pinch of salt

For the ragù

• 500 g mixed meat in pieces (lamb, pork, beef)
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick
• 1 litre tomato passata
• Half a glass of red wine
• Extra virgin olive oil, salt, chilli
• Grated pecorino

1. Make the ragù: brown the meat in oil with the chopped vegetables, deglaze with the wine, add the passata and simmer gently for 2 and a half hours.
2. Knead semolina, water and salt into a firm, smooth dough; cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Take a piece of dough and roll it into a rope as thick as a pencil; cut it into 10–12 cm lengths.
4. Lay the stick over a piece of pasta and roll it with your palms, pressing, until the pasta wraps all around it.
5. Gently slip out the stick and leave the ceppe to dry on a floured tray.
6. Cook them in salted water for 8–10 minutes, drain and dress with the ragù and pecorino. Serve the meat from the ragù as a main course.

• If the stick will not slip out, flour it lightly before rolling the pasta.
• Dry ceppe keep for a day; they can also be frozen.
• Instead of mixed meat ragù you can use the sauce with tiny meatballs, as for chitarra.

We do not have photos of this dish yet: the image is an illustration made for this page.

Pasta rolled on a rod or stick exists in many southern regions under different names (fusilli al ferretto, maccheroni al ferro). Around Teramo they are called ceppe after the stick used to make them.

They were the Sunday pasta in country homes, made by the women early in the morning while the ragù simmered on the fire.