Enjoy Rosita's spaghetti with meatballs from Abruzzo! | Pasta Grannies

Here is how Italians make pasta with meatballs: it’s a recipe special to Teramo and pasta is made with a chitarra (the name varies from spaghetti , maccheroni, chitarra ). And the meatballs are a labour of love! They are the size of chickpeas. Cookery writer and teacher Rosita shows us how it’s made.
The pasta dough: 2 eggs, 200g 0 flour
The meat sauce: one onion with 4 cloves, 1 lamb chop, 1 pork chop and 300g piece of stewing steak ( or shin) 700ml passata, nutmeg, pepper salt, olive oil
Meatballs: 300g finely minced rose veal or beef , 50g Parmesan, 1 egg yolk, nutmeg, salt.

[@aris1956]

In fact that's how we make spaghetti with meatballs in Italy, with little tiny meatballs. Large meatballs as used in America, in Italy they are used as “Secondo” (second course) and not with Pasta. Sometimes there are Italians who write under some American videos that there is no spaghetti or pasta with meatballs in Italy. Of course we have pasta with meatballs, but made in fact with tiny meatballs and not with the big ones.

[@pinkmonkeybird2644]

I think it all depends on the cooking method. A lot of people do not like cooking their meatballs by frying in oil because of the mess and extra fat calories, so they bake them in the oven instead and then add to the sauce. If you make tiny meatballs and baked them like that, they’d be dry and tasteless. So that’s why a lot of people make golfball-sized meatballs; they stay moist in the oven. I use both methods, but I agree there’s something so irrepressibly joyful about tiny meatballs with anellini in a rich tomato sauce.

[@pliny8308]

Well, it's also only this one small area that serves meatballs of any size on top of pasta. Everywhere else in Italy the meatballs are larger and are served as a secondo, and never with the pasta.

[@AO-ye6ll]

this!

[@elisaastorino2881]

Yes, but our ancestors who emigrated were very poor and that affected how they adapted their cooking. For example, my grandparents were from Calabria where spaghetti and meatballs were traditional but as you said, served separately. When they came here, they worked in the coal mines and steel mills at odd hours and probably just served it all together for lack of time - they really had to fill up for those tough jobs. Also, they had to stretch the meat as much as they could so they added lots of bread and cheese, which made the meatballs very soft so they had to roll them into a bigger size. My one grandmother fried them in oil but the other cooked them in the sauce - now I make mine the first way but my sister does it the other way. Anyway, once the Americans learned how good it was, they enjoyed big meatballs. My maternal grandparents had a little restaurant but only had Italian food once a week, and it was always spaghetti and meatballs the Italo-american way.

[@calise8783]

My mother and aunts are from Abruzzo. They always made small but not tiny meatballs and never fried them. The teeny tiny meatballs were for soup. I spent many days making them all with her. She took them out the sauce but always served them in a separate plate to be eaten after the pasta with bread. I so miss my mama.

[@marinia7]

Lovely lady! I would love to hear more about these ladies (their former professions, their hobbies, favorite past-time activities, what they love, their life advices - things like that)... Thank you all for everything you do!

[@jonesbub1]

Ahhhh, this brings back memories of my childhood! My Mama taught me how to make the tiny meatballs, which she put in her lasagne. There was something so extra special about those delicious little morsels! Rosita gifted me such a wonderful memory today! TFS, Sharon🤗♥️🍝

[@elisaastorino2881]

My aunt from Le Marche makes lasagne that way.

[@pastagrannies]

Interesting! I haven't come across tiny meatballs in lasagna in Marche - you have given me some research to do, thank you! best wishes, Vicky

[@teresamoranduzzo5719]

Ciao dal Brasile! Questo video mi ricorda la mia zia Lisa (dell'Aquila) quando faceva le polpetine! Deliziose... Complimenti, signora!

[@franko161]

She has the same expression on her face while cooking that my mom has. Lovely 🥰 I would definitely try her food 😍

[@candyminton2524]

Thank you for sharing!! Looks fabulous and Rosita is a great cook!

[@cwilson284]

This lovely nonna knows exactly what she’s doing. What a wonderful video!

[@inesdelahoya2045]

Everything in this video is so beautiful ! Of course, including her !

[@Anonymous_Prole]

Looks far better than the Italian-American variety with meatballs the size of a fist on top of overcooked spaghetti.

[@jeanineskitchen2607]

im making it now because I think the idea of having them small and mixed with the pasta is the true Spaghetti & Meatballs lol!

[@ABM750]

Rosita special ingredient is Love 🌸

[@MrsGisawesome]

This looks so delicious - I will try to make those beautiful pallotine. Grazie Nonna!

[@rosebilheri2466]

Deliciosa pasta Sra. Rosita.

[@dolcevitausa6448]

If Rosita is 81, I am moving to Teramo!

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

My mother’s family lived into their 90s

[@Sunshine-nl9mv]

What kind of flour is used for the pasta? Looks delicious.

[@kevinwatts661]

Thank you.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

One could use an actual harp to make papardelle.

[@garsia1531]

Mmmmm

[@christianeaspacher9043]

Buonissimo! ❤

[@YOUNGC1010]

The best food in the world

[@zeldafitzgerald92]

Now I need a cooking harp

[@michaelquinn3878]

Amazon (even in the USA, certainly in Italia) often sells them...look for chitarra.

[@pastagrannies]

You can buy them from Giovanni (who featured in a previous episode with a chitarra) via his website: la-bottega-della-chitarra.business.site

[@MariadelRossrio]

😊❤

[@josiemorgan5401]

🤗💐🙏

[@ΙωανναΜπετσα]

🇬🇷💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[@rolfingegypt2209]

What a beautiful lady. She looks so young and so happy in her craft ❤

[@davidhynd4435]

The look on Rosita's face when you declared the pasta to be "absolutely delicious". Priceless.

[@mariapepper6175]

A beautiful woman living in a beautiful home serving a beautiful meal! God bless all the pasta grannies!!! This was a wonderful (and beautiful) video!! 🙏❤

[@Getpojke]

Would Rosita like to adopt an older Scottish gentleman as a son?😁(I was amazed that she gave her age as 81, she looks at least 20 years younger. Must be good air & food in Teramo!?) That looked an amazing dish, the combination of flavours & textures is just spot on. I'll bet that sauce was just tip-top too. Watching her stud the onions with cloves was taking me back to childhood. The first thing my father taught me in the kitchen as a wee bairn was making bread sauce. I thought it was like alchemy studding the onion up with cloves so that it looked like a royal sceptre. One of the best things I've bought is a proper mill for grating nutmeg. It's my favourite spice behind pepper. But I was tired of grating off my fingernails & finger tips with the old mini nutmeg board graters. Plus pre-ground nutmeg just wont do. I'm liking the addition of the teaser for "next week" that you've started doing. Gives me a week of salivating thoughts about the next dish & the corzetti pasta always looks fun in its manufacture. Many thanks as always for the videos. Even better for me at the moment as I'm laid up in bed unable to move; so they're keeping me entertained. James 🍝

[@pastagrannies]

hi James, I'm sorry to hear you are bedridden and hope you are up and about very soon! My gran used to stud an onion for bread sauce - something which has gone out of fashion. I'm glad you approve of the 'outro' 🙂 best wishes, Vicky

[@Getpojke]

@@pastagrannies Thank you, will hopefully be on my feet again in a few days. it's sad that bread sauce has gone out of fashion. Love it with things like roast chicken, partridge or turkey.

[@krysab6125]

Ah, I'm a Millennial who still makes bread sauce the old-fashioned way (especially for Christmas Dinner, with my mum)! Onions studded with cloves are also a must for making a really nice bèchamel (fresh-ground nutmeg added at the end, of course). Thinking about it, bread sauce makes sense as an alternative to making a 'proper' white sauce- flour was expensive, but stale bread was cheap. Even the spices - cloves, nutmeg, bay and mace - all feel very medieval in their origin. It's nice to make something traditional!

[@Getpojke]

@@krysab6125 It's really nice to hear younger folk still making bread sauce & studding the onion. When I've talked about bread sauce with people in the past, a lot of younger ones hadn't even heard of it. For me, & it sounds like you too, its a comforting connection to family who you love. It was also a start for me in a love of cooking & the importance of good sauces that still lives with me to this day. Bread sauce is indeed one of the few survivors of Medieval thickened sauces. Have you ever made/had "skirlie"? It's another old recipe, made of oats, onions, fat & spices. Great with poultry, but nice with most things. It was also going the way of the dodo, but seems to be making a comeback. My local butcher even uses it as a topping for his pies now. Gives me terrible heartburn - it's the only thing that does. But it's worth it as again it takes me back to being a kid & getting a fancy roast dinner on a Sunday.

[@slowemm]

Women from Abruzzo tend to look very young for their age. My Mom’s family is from here. She just turned 80 and doesn’t look a day over 60.

[@laurendouglas6452]

I love the tiny meatballs! They're so much easier to eat that way, and I'm definitely trying her way of making them.

[@j3annie1963]

Rosita is a woman who is very good at multi-tasking! I love the idea of nutmeg in sauce. I usually use it in cream sauces, but I will try it in red. thank you for the wonderful video.

[@annettecinquemanifalbo17]

I've made tiny meatballs for over 40 years they're so good! I mainly use them in my holiday soup or more commonly known as Italian wedding soup! It's always a family favorite! Christmas dinner isn't complete without the Holiday Soup with tiny meatballs! That looked very delicious!

[@tishw4576]

I was thinking great! Spaghetti and meat balls. As usual it's so much more. Love the care and passion for each meal.

[@sweets4mimi]

I would eat this everyday for the rest of my life and then when l die, l would ask God to send me down so l could eat it again ❤❤❤❤

[@emmylou-y4b]

It was my job as a little girl to make the little meatballs. Thank you for allowing us to meet Rosita; I think I know what we're having this Sunday.

[@jeanineskitchen2607]

making it now to share I think its great! I confess I couldnt get my meatballs as tiny lol.

[@grouchosaidit5454]

A very relaxed, confident granny. What a superb looking dish. Bravo!

[@gens1sumus]

Chitarra & pallottine ❤❤❤ if you happen to be in Teramo - Abruzzo don’t miss this heavenly dish you can find only in this part of Italy .

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

Also scrippelle ‘mbusse!

[@martyrose]

Great video of a very capable lady who looks so young. She certainly knows her way around her kitchen. Thanks Vicky!😊❤

[@pastagrannies]

Glad you enjoyed it Marty! 🙂🌺 best wishes, Vicky

[@TURBOMIKEIFY]

The Old World really loves lamb. As an American, I never had it. Edit: I love how everyone condoned her using her hands! Adds flavor. 😂

[@yolandalynner2978]

Meals like this truly are a labor of love! Looks absolutely delicious. 🤤 I especially like the tiny meatballs. ☺️

[@jeanineskitchen2607]

omg! tell me im making this right now and by meatball 50 im tired,definitely need kids to help lol

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

Rosita has a very typically Teramana attitude of a certain generation. She's refined in her manner, standards and expectations. However to her, refinement is created through hard work, not simply enjoyed at leisure.

[@Rolasu]

I love Italian cuisine😍

[@Dreamtime-Walker]

She’s an Excellent Teacher! ❤

[@zizzie4081]

My Nonna would stud an onion with cloves when making brodo.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

Where can I buy her books? I already have yours!

[@pastagrannies]

Thank you! I asked Rosita and at the moment they are out of print - but she is organising a reprint. I'll let you know when they are published. best wishes, Vicky

[@PrinceStreet]

So much fun to watch. I just discovered the series and looking forward to working through your others. I adore your enthusiasm for the work and what you’re making!

[@pastagrannies]

thank you very much - I hope you enjoy working through all the videos! 🙂🌺 best wishes, Vicky

[@sigridmecklinger110]

Gott, sieht das lecker aus🤤👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@mikeneidlinger8857]

I'd love to butcher a whole cow with someone who knew what they were doing. I'm American and I've eaten so much meat. My favorite dish is a vegan pasta with grilled veggies in red sauce. If I can get good cheese I'd put the good cheese on it. My Father used to take me to the Italian Deli in Los Angeles to get the good cheese. Everything else tastes like wood.

[@fas1242]

Tell Rosita to set another plate. I’ll be right over.

[@dee_dee_place]

I call shotgun!!! LOL.

[@LaPotenzaDellAria]

Rosita is my relative ,aunt of my father. Is very famous here in teramo

[@RositaQuinonez-i3g]

Very nice🍝 spaghetti 🤙🍍🏝 1:56

[@josephjude1290]

Just got done making my meatballs with bison meat. Great video and channel

[@sandycola596]

Rosita ma che donna sei - sei BRAVA! Anche io lo faccio così 👏👏👏

[@Play_withjo]

Barva rosita❤

[@LS-fs6nc]

sooo good!brava,lady Rosita! 💗

[@artycrafty9209]

This also brings back childhood memories of my Aunts serving up steaming pasta and hiding it high in the air, oh you cant beat it. I love the the mix of meats on the bone, such flavour. Oh vicky how green with envy I was watching you enjoy that wonderful dish! Thank you to everyone involved. Ramon. x.

[@danielfontaine6977]

Hello from Montreal ! Oh wow! I never like the north american "spaghetti and meat ball" most of the time they turn dry like a chalk .... those little pallottine to put back in the sauce at the last minute! Will try it this week-end... Thank you Pasta Grannies ... :-)

[@pastagrannies]

hi Daniel, I hope your dish is a success! best wishes, Vicky

[@JLNeis]

YOU HAVE THE BEST JOB TASTING ALL OF THIS GREAT FOOD!

[@SimplyJeannie]

I am very interested in how or what she used to make the spaghetti noodles with.

[@naninickynino]

I often wonder if these ladies get any compensation from your show…. Other than appearing on the internet. These dishes are a tremendous amount of work and not easy at these ages! Buon lavoro Rosita! Una delizia!

[@fakenorwegian4743]

If they are typical Italian nonas, they are honored to have guests to feed and entertain. And I am sure it's exciting for them and their families to be on KZbin as well. I think Pasta Grannies is doing all of us a huge service by preserving these recipes region by region, nona by nona.

[@pastagrannies]

yes of course they are paid, but as 'fakenorwegian' points out, it's not why they're doing it - they love being involved. And please remember they are not the only ones who deserve payment, my team does too. best wishes, Vicky

[@dee_dee_place]

@@pastagrannies Vicky- You & your team do a wonderful job of taking us on a tour of Italy & its cuisine. I have a question for you... How do you find Nonas for your KZbin videos?

[@aris1956]

@@dee_dee_place​​⁠​​⁠ ⁠ If I remember correctly this question has already been asked and if I'm not mistaken she said that someone from the grandmothers' family contacts Vicky. Otherwise, I imagine it would be a bit difficult to go knocking house to house and ask if someone is willing to be featured in a KZbin video.

[@pastagrannies]

@dee_dee_place and @aris1956 people do contact me and suggest their beloved elders, but these days I have a Granny Finder, Livia De Giovanni, who does the research. She contacts the mayors of the villages we want to visit. Then she talks to the grandmothers and the families of the grandmothers, because the decision to be filmed is never taken in isolation. Everyone has to be happy, and our ladies can (and do) change their minds at any time. 🙂🌺 best wishes, Vicky

[@sharonhoffman-j8w]

what do you do with the lamb and pork that was in the sauce? looks delicious 😋

[@Ooilei]

Oh, so spaghetti and meatballs really is Italian. Don't know why some people keep saying it's an American invited dish 🤷

[@Ricardohoineff]

Love to have my breakfast watching your channel. Makes my day! Have a nice one too!

[@jose-sanchez8]

espectacular

[@oliverschmidt1988]

RIP pan

[@gilanganeh1]

first

[@VerhoevenSimon]

A marvelous dish as usual!

[@HazelEyedGurls]

Grazie Rosita! Buonissimo ❤❤

[@melski777]

So satisfying to see ❤

[@dee_dee_place]

I'm curious about something. Don't most people let the pasta dough rest before rolling it out? I think this is the first time I've seen someone roll out the dough directly after kneading it.

[@zeldafitzgerald92]

From my experience I can just recommend to let it rest. Makes it more soft and easier to role out I think.

[@pastagrannies]

letting egg pasta dough rest is best as the gluten relaxes making it easier to roll. I expect if Rosita had felt she had the time, she would have let it rest. If you don't, it's just a harder roll; but since the chitarra is quite small, it's less of an issue. best wishes, Vicky

[@randomcommenterphd893]

Now that's made with love

[@samanthabirkett4819]

I'm bemused and disappointed everyday that the almighty never blessed me with a beautiful Italian nonna 😔

[@aris1956]

You need to apply for an adoption. There will certainly be some Nonna here in Italy who lives alone and who will want to adopt you. 😉

[@burlatsdemontaigne6147]

a star with her guitar.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

The 3 carni! When I was a kid I made my mom stop making it because of the lamb, which I love otherwise. Now I’ve got to try it again. I’m too lazy to roll the balls, I bought one of those presses with round holes.

[@pastagrannies]

hi Winston, the presses look fun - do they work? best wishes, Vicky

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@pastagrannies If you are very generous in your definition of "work." I don't think they'd impress my mother but I'm not as patient as she was! I'd say they give you a decent head start. I just bought one on the Italian amazon and had it shipped.

[@pastagrannies]

@@WinstonSmithGPT I have one in my Amazon basket 😊 I reckon there’s nothing wrong with a gadget that speeds the process if the results are the same!

[@kellybryson7754]

What a lovely dish.

[@margaritabetancourt1167]

❤❤❤❤😋😋😋😋👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍

[@brucemapaya0000]

Tutto é bellissimo....bravo🙌

[@kimandersen3423]

Fantastic editing

[@neyas2]

Wow 😮

[@kandisnz]

I want a cookbook!

[@setheus907]

That was the veal she used for the meatballs then? You said beef in the video but that doesn't look like beef mince to me. Looks more like pork or veal

[@pastagrannies]

Butchery differs from country to country. When non-Italians discuss veal they are usually thinking of milk-fed rose veal, whereas Italian vitello or vitellone is produced from older animals (10 months to a year) that have had access to pasture/solid food. Thus I used the word 'beef' as I think it's slightly closer to what it is (from a UK point of view). best wishes, vicky

[@e.lycopersicon9720]

I want to know more background. We talk about how "spaghetti and giant meatballs" is an American thing and Italians don't serve those things together, but we don't talk about how these giant cuts of meat in a sauce are just as modern an invention by Italians as the "spaghetti and meatballs" dish was by Italian Americans. Italians suffered privation for generations before unification, the destitution of the people was one of the primary reasons for the rise of Benito Mussolini, then after WWII Italy suffered rationing and privation until the 1950s. So where did this dish sugo come from? Who came up with it? How did changes in culture and agriculture make it possible?

[@pastagrannies]

That's a whole documentary series 😀 The history of Italian gastronomy and the development of Italian American cooking is fascinating. There are several people working in the field: take a look the work of Karima Moyer Nocchi - her website is theeternaltable.com; a good book A Brief History of Pasta by Luca Cesari; and for the Italian American angle, Simone Cinotto's The Italian American Table. best wishes, Vicky

[@dhurley8522]

My mouth is watering 😋

[@liamblake937]

And yet Italians claim spaghetti and meatballs isnt Italian...

[@eolobrontolo9117]

😉

[@footyfan101ful]

Everyone listen to nonna don't cut the pasta!!!

[@nealieanderson512]

My outh is watering..this looks so wonderful!

[@moniquevann9950]

Just Beautiful thanks for sharing ❤looks delicious 😋

[@poultryfancier2004]

It looks delicious :) I will try this recipe

[@blipblip88]

Bravo! Grazie!!

[@SwissMarksman]

3:52 "to colour on all sides" Yes.

[@brianlawson363]

I am not a fan of nutmeg and am also allergic to it. I'm sure that leaving it out will alter the final flavor but I don't have a choice. I'm sure that when I make this dish it will be eaten with gusto. Grazie!

[@pinkmonkeybird2644]

I know how you feel - I’m one of those people for whom cilantro tastes like soap, and yet I adore Indian food! Which means unless I’m making it for myself at home, I have to either embarrass myself by asking for no cilantro in a dish or choose something where it isn’t liberally used in the food or it can be picked out. I know I’m changing the intended flavor of a food, but I can’t enjoy a plate of soapy food. But I love nutmeg and its relative mace, and I do cook with them often. It is an intense and unique flavor, so I can understand why someone may not enjoy it. I grew up with it though. Can you substitute green cardamom for nutmeg?

[@brianlawson363]

@@pinkmonkeybird2644 Rock out! Thank you for an awesome reply. I have only enjoyed cardamom in chai at a local Indian restaurant. I have learned to use just a SMIDGE of cinnamon in place of nutmeg and enjoy it. I too used to NOT care for cilantro until one day, BOOM, I fell in love with it. I truly understand where you are coming from. My nephew called it "soapy lettuce" and was having none of it. Peace and blessings to you.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

My family is also from Teramo and uses a tiny piece of cinnamon stick. Small!

[@aqsw57]

dont worry, not everyone puts it in the meatballs. You can just leave it out or you can sub it with parsley if you want, which is what we use in my region (further south)

[@brianlawson363]

@@WinstonSmithGPT Thank you for the vote of confidence through your suggestion.

[@guguigugu]

truly, one must be careful not to become lost in the sauce

[@camillodipasquale759]

BRAVISSIMA !

[@elenaschafer7871]

Ich habe mir Chitarra gekauft und werde das Rezept ausprobieren, vielen Dank!!!😋

[@HydroSnips]

Curious as to which of the books this recipe can be found in?

[@pastagrannies]

The recipe is in neither of the Pasta Grannies books, unfortunately, for two reasons: it needs a chitarra which few people have, and the recipe is very long and doesn't fit the style restrictions of a book. I'll write it up and put it on the website. best wishes, Vicky

[@HydroSnips]

@@pastagranniesOMG that would be great, thankyou 👍

[@bobgruner]

That does look delicious.

[@HayaJi]

Brava Signora Rosita, and thank you Vicky & team! Delicious 😋

[@pastagrannies]

I'm glad you enjoyed Rosita's video 🙂🌺 best wishes, Vicky

[@tiefensucht]

This noodle guitar is amazing, never seen such a tool before.

[@gipsi2001]

​@maruiacancercare you a scammer?

[@lourdesangulo413]

👏👏👏✨🌹👌

[@peterknaust7424]

Again delightful Vicky, thank you!

[@pastagrannies]

Glad you enjoyed it Peter! 🙂🌺 best wishes, Vicky

[@sanaelfaleh1224]

lovely signora

[@addysbeeandgarden320]

Link for the cookbook, pretty please?

[@pastagrannies]

Rosita's cookbooks are currently unavailable but she is organising a reprint. I'll let you know when they become available. best wishes, Vicky

[@bobthestinky7369]

I'm so glad we actually heard the phrase 'lost in the sauce' used seriously in this video.

[@pastagrannies]

is this a phrase used elsewhere in other contexts? oh dear. 😳

[@bobthestinky7369]

@@pastagrannies Not in a bad way. Just a thing people say these days to mean like 'out of touch', 'bewildered' or sometimes it just means drunk.