The macaroni pie, known as pasticcio di maccheroni alla ferrarese, is a traditional dish with very ancient origins. Because of this, it has undergone many modifications over the centuries.
The current version combines medieval features with modern reinterpretations. The external shell is a sweet, shortcrust pastry; the filling is made with macaroni seasoned with a white ragù of mixed meats, béchamel sauce, white truffles or mushrooms. One thing is sure: the Ferrara savory pie at the beginning differed from today’s.
In Renaissance times, it was a typical Carnival dish that only wealthy people could afford unless they belonged to the Este Court, where the dish appeared on the table more frequently.
Today, it is the perfect first course of feasts or for important occasions.
The pie called pasticcio in Italian cuisine
Even today, the word pasticcio indicates a preparation combining several ingredients enclosed in a pastry shell baked in the oven.
The preparation was already widespread in Roman times, and Marcus Apicius mentions it in his De Re Coquinaria, the only surviving gastronomic document of the Roman Empire.
After the end of that Empire and after a phase of great uncertainty characterized by continuous barbarian invasions of Italy, with the end of the Early Middle Ages, Italians emerge from a phase characterized by the brutality of life. From the Late Middle Ages onward, Italian society progressed, reaching its peak with the Renaissance, which closed the long period called Middle Ages.
Between the 14th and 15th centuries, pasticcio appeared again on the table of the rich people as a stuffed pie containing mixed meats, fish, as well as fruit mixed with vegetables. At that time, Ferrara’s pie was served as a main course.
In Italian savory pie recipes from that period, the external shell of shortcrust pastry was almost always a sweet dough. Additionally, in an era without fridges, the dome helped to preserve the ingredients of the filling.
Historical note on macaroni as an ingredient
The pasticcio was a popular dish throughout Italy, but one of the cooks who worked at the court of the Este family made the Ferrara one famous.
Cristoforo di Messisbugo, the literate cook, was one of the great culinary masters of his time.
In 1528, on the occasion of the wedding of the Duke of Ferrara Ercole II d’Este to Renata of France, he changed the pasticcio recipe, creating a new version called the Pastiz del Duca /the Duke’s savory pie. Although this pasticcio was probably still without pasta (and if there was, it is unlikely that it was short macaroni). His fame helped create that of the Ferrara pasticcio, which became one of the recurring dishes at the banquets of the Estense court.
You may read online that the introduction of macaroni in the pie descends from a diplomatic, political affair that culminated in the marriage celebrated in 1473 between Ercole I d’Este and Eleonora d’Aragona. The union of the two houses was undoubtedly significant. Still, from a historical perspective, it is unlikely that Eleonora brought dry pasta as a dowry to the Este family, for several reasons.
The spread of dry pasta in Naples dates back to the seventeenth century; and macaroni up to that time, and even beyond, indicated a long pasta format, like vermicelli, not short.
I have dedicated some newsletters to the history of Italian pasta. I will leave you the link to read about its diffusion in Naples: HERE
As the earliest documented recipes attest, pasta probably became an ingredient of Ferrara’s Macaroni pie after 1700, decreeing the birth of the modern macaroni pie of Ferrara.
Read what Artusi wrote in Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891), which mentions Pasticcio di Maccheroni (recipe no. 349), indicating it as a recipe widespread among the cooks of Romagna (which for him indeed included Ferrara):
In my opinion, the best macaroni for this dish is the long Neapolitan kind, made from extra-fine dough, with thick walls and a narrow hole in the middle. This type of pasta holds up well when cooked and absorbs more of the seasoning”.
In the historical novel The Leopard, set between 1860 and 1910, the author, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, described the wonder of that pie, though not alla Ferrarese. He added an interesting detail about macaroni:
The appearance of those monumental pies was well worthy of evoking quivers of admiration. The burnished gold of the wrapping, the fragrance of sugar and cinnamon emanating from it, were but a prelude to the sensation of delight that emanated from within as the knife ripped open the crust: a smoke laden with aromas erupted from it at first, and then chicken livers, hard ovettes, fillets of ham, chicken and truffles could be glimpsed in the unctuous, hot mass of short macaroni, to which the meat extract imparted a precious chamois color.”
Macaroni pie of Ferrara
Although this type of pie was widespread throughout Italy, timballo and timpano are declinations of medieval pasticcio; the macaroni pie of Ferrara has some peculiarities:
- First, the typical Renaissance combination of sweet shortcrust pastry and savory filling survive. The same taste is present in another traditional Ferrara dish, just as old: cappellacci di zucca (pumpkin tortelli), where pumpkin’s sweetness meets Parmigiano’s savoriness.
- The presence of fine ingredients such as truffles and/or mushrooms depends on the fact that the territory of Ferrara is rich in truffles: white, scorzone (summer black), and bianchetto (a less prized white truffle). The latter is typical, especially in the areas with sandier soil of the Bassa Ferrarese. It lends itself to being used in the pasticcio since it withstands high cooking temperatures, unlike the prized white one.
- The oldest ragù included (also) the use of sweetbreads; at that time, more animal entrails were used than we do today. And pigeon meat, which, in the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, was widely used (see the recipe for Rice Bomb from Piacenza and Parma).
- Preparing it required/requires a traditional pie dish, a branch pan with different decorations for each noble family in Ferrara. The pan’s thermal capacity allowed for perfect cooking of the outer shell.
- Modern ragù is a white sauce (no tomato) of mixed meats; the macaroni is usually short-shape.
Some tips
Can you make the pie even without the right mold? Yes. The recipe includes all the cooking directions for those who, like me, do not have one.
Is the truffle mandatory? No, alternatively, you can use fresh mushrooms that you will cook separately.
Cooking Ferrara’s macaroni pie was a challenge and a pleasure for me. When I turned it upside down by removing the mold, the sight of the golden dome, intact and perfect, caused a rush of joy that caught even me by surprise.
The preparation of this recipe is not complicated. It is just a bit laborious. Since you have to make the ragù (but it needs just a quick cooking time), cook the mushrooms separately (unless you use dried porcini), and make béchamel and shortcrust pastry. You can make it easier by buying pre ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry.
Definitely a recipe that deserves a special occasion and, without a doubt, worth making.
Buona cucina, Monica
Other traditional Ferrara recipes you can find on the blog
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Macaroni pie of Ferrara (pasticcio di maccheroni)
Equipment
- dome mold, 1.5 l capacity
Ingredients
Mixed meat ragù
- 300 g of mixed mushrooms or champignons you can also use a mixture of frozen mushrooms (follow the cooking method indicated on the package
- 20 g of butter
- 30 g of olive oil
- salt to taste
- 100 g of unsalted butter
- 50 g of olive oil
- 30 g of celery
- 30 g of carrot
- 30 g of onion
- 1 pinch of salt
- 100 g of ground veal meat
- 100 g of ground beef meat
- 100 g of ground chicken
- 100 g of pork loin or 100 g knife-cut chicken giblets
- 30 g of dry Marsala or 50 g white wine
- 3 g of salt
- 25 g of dried porcini mushrooms (soaked, drained, and chopped) or strips of white truffle called Bianchetto optional
Sweet shortcrust pastry
- 150 g of butter
- 300 g of all-purpose flour
- 40 g of granulated sugar
- 2 regular eggs
Also
- 250 g of ribbed macaroni
- 300 g of béchamel sauce
- 30 g of grated Parmigiano
Instructions
Ragù in bianco (no tomato)
- Clean and cut the mushrooms into thin slices.
- Melt butter in olive oil, add mushrooms and a pinch of salt, and cook gently until soft and their liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally. Turn off the stove and set aside.
- Finely chop celery, carrot, and onion. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in the oil in a large pan. Add the vegetables and a pinch of salt, stir, and cook gently for a few minutes or until translucent.
- Add the different meats to the pan, keeping them separate (if the butcher made a single mince, no matter). Use a spoon to make the grain finer without combining them in the pan (not yet). Cook for 5 minutes on a small stove and medium flame.
- Turn up the flame, pour in the Marsala, stir by combining the different ground meats, and add the mushrooms. Add 3 g of salt, stir, and cook the ragù on a small stove on a low flame for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When cooked, taste and adjust salt (if necessary).
- Please turn it off and let it rest for a few hours overnight.
Sweet shortcrust pastry
- Cut cold butter from the refrigerator into small cubes and keep aside.
- Shell the eggs and keep them aside.
- In the bowl of the planetary mixer, combine flour and sugar, mix, add butter, pour in eggs, and knead with the dough hook until well blended.
- Wrap in plastic film and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for one hour.
Assembling pie
- Cook the pasta in boiling salted water and drain the macaroni when al dente. Cool quickly under cold water.
- Season the pasta with the ragù, Parmigian, and bechamel sauce in a large bowl. If you want to add truffle or porcini mushrooms, do so now. Keep aside.
- Set aside a small portion of shortcrust pastry that will be used to close the base of the pie.
- Roll out the rest of the shortcrust pastry in a thin layer, about 3 mm. Grease the domed mold with butter or olive oil and line with the shortcrust pastry.
- Add in the seasoned macaroni.
- Roll out the leftover shortcrust pastry into a thin layer, about 5 mm. Use this pastry to seal the macaroni pie in the pastry shell.
- Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C (356F) degrees.
- When the pie has rested, and the oven is at temperature, cover the mold with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, remove the foil cover.
- Please wait 10 minutes before tipping the macaroni pie onto a serving platter and another 5 minutes before cutting it.
Tips
- If you buy ready sweet shortcrust pastry, you shorten the preparation time.
- Store the leftover in the fridge for some days.
