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
Stine Mari says
I’ve never heard of handkerchief pasta before, but it sounds fairly easy to make! And the sauce looks spectacular, as always.
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Stine. Homemade pasta can be a very relaxing process!
Christy Boston's Kitchen says
This looks amazing! I love all the information and history you always give that helps me understand your recipes. I am going to pin this one. I can’t wait to try it!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Christy. I hope you try it and love it.
Lesli Schwartz says
This is the “cutest” lasagna I’ve ever seen! Those pillows! I definitely have some lasagna noodles in my pantry and will have to try this!
The Pasta Project says
It really is a pretty and delicious dish!
Anna says
Another yummy and comforting recipe! Love that this one using these big square sheets of pasta to fold the filling into it! Mouthwatering as always!
HEATHER PERINE says
Oh my this looks so comforting! I’m out of flour at the moment so I may have to cheat and do storebought lasagna noodles but that ragu looks too good to wait and make my own!
The Pasta Project says
Cheating is absolutely ok! Use what you have, it will be delicious.
Nart | Cooking with Nart says
This pasta looks scrumptious! Again, so much new information for me in this post. Thanks for sharing!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Nart. The food is so rich in history, I love to share it.
adriana says
I visited the Abruzzo region three years ago and the food is fantastic love this dish!
The Pasta Project says
I hope you get to try this, Adriana, and bring back memories of your trip!
Felicia says
I always learn so much when I visit your site. Like what words mean what pastas to use and the different kinds of pastas and where they originate from. This recipe looks so good and easy! Thank you!
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Felicia. If you try it, let me know!
saif says
I never tried Fazzoletti Pasta but this looks absolutely delicious. I am amazed there are many pasta dishes that I am not familiar with.
The Pasta Project says
There is always more to learn, Saif!
Alpa says
I have never tried the handkerchief style pasta, will have to try it soon 🙂
The Pasta Project says
If you like baked pasta, you will love it!
Marta says
I’ve never before heard of or seen fregnacce and now I need to make and eat it. Thank you for the introduction!
The Pasta Project says
If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Ramona says
This baked fazzoletti recipe looks soo good! One of those recipes that you could make again and again that you can never have enough. And that homemade handkerchief pasta…. omg! Need this in my life so badly right now.
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Ramona! It is delicious, I hope you try it!
Jere Cassidy says
It is amazing the number of pasta dishes that can be made, and I want to try them all. I love the simplicity of this dish and the fact it was an everyday dish. This is a must-try.
The Pasta Project says
The possibilities are endless, Jere! There is always something new and delicious to try.
Rochelle says
I have never seen pasta like this. I am really excited to try this!
The Pasta Project says
It is beautiful, Rochelle, I hope you try this!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
This is absolutely delicious! I love that it’s such a crowd pleaser for the whole family
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Shadi. Family meals that please everyone are so important!
Pam Greer says
Baked pasta dishes are my favorite and I had never heard of this one!! I can’t wait to try the homemade pasta!
The Pasta Project says
Baked pasta is delicious! Hope you try it and love it.
Veena Azmanov says
Such an awesome dish is a treat to my family. I have to try making some this weekend. Delicious.
The Pasta Project says
Thank you, Veena!
Chris Collins says
I’ve actually never had Fazzoletti pasta before but it truly looks delicious! Can’t wait to try the recipe 🙂
The Pasta Project says
You must try it, I am sure you will love it!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
I have always wanted to make homemade pasta!! This sounds right up my alley, thanks for the recipe! 🙂
The Pasta Project says
It is a really enjoyable process, and even better you get to eat delicious and home made pasta when you are done!
Kelly Stilwell says
Looks delicious!! Can’t wait to try it!
The Pasta Project says
It is delicious! Hope you try it!