Preparing homemade pasta during the holidays is a family tradition and this year the tradition is not lacking. It’s true, at the table we were just Paolo and I, but we like cooking, especially if we do it together. For New Year’s Eve lunch we prepared these delicious agnolotti al brasato.

Braised Beef Agnolotti Recipe

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 400 g flour 00
• 4 medium eggs
• salt

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 onion
• 1 stalk of celery
• 500 g beef 
• 80 g Padan grain grated
• 1 egg
• 1 l red wine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil

Clean and cut into small pieces both the onion and the celery stalk. In a frying pan add a little oil and the onion and celery just chopped.

Add the meat and brown over high heat. Turn it on all sides so that it is browned homogeneously.

Then add the wine, add the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover with the lid and lower the heat. Let simmer for 1 hour and then turn the meat and let simmer for another hour.

When the wine is almost completely reduced, extinguish the fire and remove the flesh.

Cut the meat into pieces and put them in the blender. Add the cheese, egg and also add 2 tablespoons of the remaining sauce in the pot.

Place the flour on a pastry board and add the eggs and a pinch of salt. Knead everything and get a smooth dough. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest for half an hour in the fridge.

After half an hour, roll out the dough into strips of maximum 6 mm thickness with the rolling pin or with the machine to roll out the dough. I helped myself with the Kenwood food processor.

Place the filling on the strip of dough one walnut at a time at a distance of 2 cm from each other. Place another strip on top to close and cut square shapes with a toothed wheel, taking care to close well every single agnolotto with your fingers and to let out the air inside.

As the agnolotti are ready place them on a sheet of baking paper with a pinch of flour.

Fill a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Pour the agnolotti and cook until all rise to the surface for about 3 minutes.

Drain the obtained agnolotti and serve them with the same sauce of braised meat.

Advice

The meat of the braised meat can be marinated in the wine for twelve hours before with celery and carrot and if desired with a bay leaf. Doing so and then cook it will fry then only the meat on the fire with a drizzle of oil and then add the marinade.

As for the dressing, the sauce can be passed to the mixer to obtain a smoother consistency.