Baked Fazzoletti Pasta from Abruzzo (fregnacce Abruzzesi).
Known as fregnacce Abruzzesi, this yummy baked fazzoletti pasta recipe from the Teramo province in Abruzzo is made with handkerchief pasta squares filled with a meat and sausage ragu. This is a delicious alternative to classic lasagna and a great way to use homemade lasagne sheets.
What does fregnacce mean?
The word ‘fregnaccia’, in the Abruzzo dialect, means more or less a ‘nonsense’, something simple and undemanding. Today, in the world of fast and convenience food that we live in, this baked fazzoletti may not seem simple. But, to the farming families of the past, this was a recipe they made with every day ingredients.
Their pasta was always homemade. Many had their own chickens or got eggs from a neighbour who did. Or they made their pasta with durum wheat flour and water. Most farming families produced their own sausages and slaughtered their own livestock for meat. Nowadays, of course, this isn’t really the case even though Abruzzo remains a region with a lot of farmers and shepherds.
However, fregnacce Abruzzesi is still a very popular dish, especially for Sunday lunch and family get-togethers. And, although Italians now buy most their ground meat and sausages from the local butcher or supermarket, fregnacce still need to be homemade.
What is fregnacce pasta?
There are two types of pasta called fregnacce in Italy. One is a kind of rumboid strip or maltagliati from Marche and parts of Lazio made with durum wheat flour and water.
The other is the pasta used in this recipe. This kind of fregnacce is actually a type of fazzoletti or handkerchief pasta. In other words, square sheets of egg pasta made in the same way as lasagna noodles.
The only other traditional recipe I know for handkerchief pasta is fazzoletti with pesto (mandilli de sea) from Liguria. In that recipe, fresh pasta squares are served with basil pesto and often potatoes and green beans, like in this recipe for corzetti! Although I have made the version with corzetti pasta, I want to make it with fazzoletti too!
How to make fregnacce.
Fregnacce from Abruzzo are simple to make. Just follow my recipe for homemade lasagne sheets. But, cut the pasta into squares instead of rectangular.
For this baked fazzoletti recipe I used 400g (14oz) of Italian ‘00’ soft wheat flour and 4 eggs. So that’s 100g of flour per egg. Each pasta square is about 16-18cm square (6 to 7 ins). I passed the dough through my pasta machine. However, I had to roll it out thinner to get the right size and thickness.
When cooking the handkerchief pasta, you have two possible methods. If your pasta isn’t super thin, blanch it first in boiling salted water. If you can get it thin enough that you can see your fingers through it, then you can let it cook in the sauce!
I have made this baked fazzoletti pasta two ways, with ready-made fresh lasagne sheets, which I blanched before, and homemade handkerchief pasta squares which I didn’t parboil.
The ragu.
Fregnacce Abruzzesi calls for a ragu made with ground beef and sausage meat. I used a mix of ground pork and beef. But you can use just beef or veal. The sausages were just plain Italian pork sausages without added herbs.
The ragu serves for the fazzoletti filling and to cover the pasta, like in lasagna. After making the ragu, you need to separate it into two portions. The half that is used for the filling has eggs and cheese added to it.
Other ingredients in this baked fazzoletti pasta.
Apart from the pasta, ground meat and sausage, you only need an onion, red chili pepper (peperoncino) and some grated Pecorino cheese to make this recipe. So, in reality, this is a pretty simple sauce or as the people of Abruzzo say, it is a ‘fregnaccia’!
This baked fazzoletti is one of my favorite pasta recipes from Abruzzo, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
Your feedback means a lot to me!
Buon Appetito!
Other Pasta Recipes from Abruzzo
- Fried sagne pasta with chickpeas.
- Spaghetti alla chitarra with 4 meat ragu.
- Pasta with saffron and zucchini.
- Chitarrini pasta with tuna carbonara.
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Baked Fazzoletti Pasta from Abruzzo (fregnacce Abruzzesi)
Ingredients
Ingredients for pasta
- 400 g Italian '00' flour (14oz) or all purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for ragu and filling
- 400 g minced/ground beef (14oz) or a mix of pork and beef
- 2-3 Italian pork sausages depending on the size
- 400 g mature small tomatoes (14oz) or peeled tomatoes
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1-2 eggs depending on size
- 150 g Pecorino Romano (5oz) grated
- 200 g tomato passata (7oz)
- 1/2 fresh peperoncino (red chili pepper) or 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper. to taste
Instructions
Start making the pasta.
- Sift the flour onto a pastry board, make a well in the middle, add a pinch of salt and break the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork and slowly bring the flour into the centre and then knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and compact. Roll the dough into a ball and cover it with a tea towel or in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. You can also start mixing the dough in a bowl or stand mixer. However, when I do this, I usually turn it out onto a wooden board and finish kneading there anyway.
Start making the ragu.
- Peel and thinly chop the onion. Remove the sausage meat from its casing and chop into small pieces. If using fresh small tomatoes, cut them into halves or quarters. If using a fresh chili, remove the seeds and chop into small pieces.
- In a heavy frying pan or skillet, cook the onion in the olive oil until it starts to get translucent. Add the sausage meat and ground beef. Mix well and leave to brown for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the red chili pepper and simmer for 40 minutes on a low heat. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Continue with the pasta.
- In the meantime, divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter out into a thin sheet of pasta. You can do this by hand or using a pasta machine. If using a pasta machine, your sheets may not be wide enough. You will need to roll them out more on a floured pastry board. Cut the dough sheets into squares of about 16-18 cm square. If you think your pasta squares are a bit thick then parboil them as described below. If they are very thin you can skip precooking them.
- Put a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta if you want to parboil your fregnacce. Add a little olive oil to prevent the fregnacce sticking together. Blanch the pasta, 3 squares at a time. Drain the squares with a slotted spoon and arrange them on a tea towel.
Make the filling.
- Take half the meat sauce, put it in a bowl, let it cool and then add 1-2 eggs and 100 g of the grated pecorino (2/3rds) and mix well.
Finish the ragu.
- Add the passata to the rest of the ragu and continue cooking it for another 10 minutes while you make the fregnacce.
Finish the fregnacce abruzzesi.
- Place a small tablespoonful of filling on each square of pasta and fold it into four. (see photos in post) First in half and then half again.
- Grease an oven dish with a little olive oil, spread a little of the remaining ragu on the bottom of the dish then make a layer of the filled and folded fregnacce, slightly overlapping each other. Cover with the remaining ragu, sprinkle with some grated pecorino and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 ° C for 15-20 minutes.
- Par-boiled pasta will cook faster. Fresh pasta may need a little longer.
Notes
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Richard DeCosmo says
I made this dish for my daughter and grand daughter and we all loved it. In fact they liked it better than lasagna. My daughter then made it for the rest of her family, and she got the same reaction. I had to alter slightly by making my own pork mix because I have to limit my salt intake and it was still great. We will make it again. Thanks.
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The Pasta Project says
Thank you!
Sivaranjani says
i was looking for homemade version of fregnacce longtime. Yours looks easy for me to try.
The Pasta Project says
I hope you try it and love it!
Lathiya says
I’m thoroughly learning about pasta from your blog. Never heard of Handkerchief pasta. Very informative and the dish looks fabulous.
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Lathiya. It’s a delicious meal, and actually quite simple, though it looks complicated!
Jacque Hastert says
I am going to make this and surprise my husband with it! He loves Italian food, but he swears it’s never authentic enough. Since we have been to Italy several times he’s spoiled.
The Pasta Project says
I am sure he will like any of the recipes on my blog – they are all authentic! Enjoy!
Aleta says
I LOVE this! Sausage stuffing all wrapped up like little treasures in fresh pasta squares?! Cannot wait to make these – my family is going to go crazy over it! Definitely looks easier than making ravioli.
The Pasta Project says
‘Wrapped up like little treasures’ – I love that, Aleta! Whether it looks perfect or not, the taste will be delicious!
Kacey Perez says
Oh my gosh this recipe seriously looks amazing. Making my own lasagna sheets sounds scary! But I am willing to try anything so I may give that one a try…especially if I have all the ingredients during this lock down time.
The Pasta Project says
You will find it much easier than you think it will be. Enjoy the process 🙂
Charity says
Yes please! We love making homemade pasta and now we have so much more time to do it! Thanks for the recipe!
The Pasta Project says
It’s a great time for trying new things and brushing up on old skills!
Sondra Barker says
Wow this looks and sounds amazing! I am definitely going to try this out soon.
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Sondra! Let me know how it goes when you do!
Gail Montero says
This is the perfect food for a special family dinner, no, any family dinner as I can eat this every day!
The Pasta Project says
Absolutely, Gail! It is great for special occasions or just because!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says
I love that you educate and share so much knowledge. This looks absolutely delicious and just comforting! It’s like a hug on a plate! Thank you so much for sharing!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Lori. It is a very satisfying meal!
Leslie says
You always have some of the best pasta dishes! This looks like no exception! We love pasta in our family and it’s something we enjoy often! Love seeing how others enjoy it as well!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Leslie! I hope you continue to enjoy the recipes!
Paula Montenegro says
I had never heard of this recipe, but I have all the ingredients! Even pork chorizo which we eat like crazy here. A wonderful and easy recipe. Thanks for sharing.
The Pasta Project says
This is a perfect recipe for you, Paula! Let me know if you try it!
Amy Liu Dong says
We love pasta so much and I am so happy to learn this new recipe, will definitely make this for our dinner. Thank you!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Amy. I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hani says
So happy to read the history and knowledge of the food. It looks so good & surprisingly uses common ingredients.
The Pasta Project says
I love to share the history and the knowledge! Especially these days, it’s good to keep it simple!
Veronika says
I never handkerchief pasta before but it looks so tasty and comforting! Also, I like that it’s easy to make, perfect for a weekend night!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Veronika. You should try it, if you try it, you will love it.
Beth says
You’re starting to make me think I should dust off my old pasta roller, though the last time I used it was to flatten leaves for basketry. Otherwise it might be a while before I can get out to look for fresh lasagne sheets. I’ll put it on my hope-to list.
The Pasta Project says
Oh yes, Beth! Get your pasta roller out!
Anindya Sundar Basu says
Love Pasta in any form and will try this too
The Pasta Project says
Me too, Anindya!
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli says
They look fantastic! I’ve heard the name but never had them or made them. Sound pretty delicious to us!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, it really is a delicious dish!
Patrice says
I love Abruzzo so this dish sounds wonderful. Looking forward to returning to beautiful Italy when we can all travel again.
The Pasta Project says
I hpe you get to try it inthe meantime, Patrice. It will bring a little bit of Italy to your table!