Pasta shapes from Calabria

Calabria makes pasta in the southern way. The dough is durum wheat semolina, or a mix of semolina and soft flour, worked with water and salt. Eggs are rare. Cooks shape the pasta by hand on the day they eat it. Fileja and lagane both hold PAT status, the Italian list of traditional food products. The region has no PDO or PGI pasta.

Fileja are the signature shape, from the province of Vibo Valentia. The cook rolls a strip of dough around a thin rod, the dinaculu, so it forms a loose elongated spiral about 10 to 12 cm long. In older times the rod was a dried stem of disa grass. Maccheroni al ferretto, the house macaroni of the whole region, use the same trick with a knitting needle. Lagane are wide ribbons with ancient Roman roots. Rascatelli, from the Ionian side, are dragged with the fingers.

Meat ragù is the classic dressing. Goat ragù pairs with fileja in the Vibo area, pork ragù in Reggio. Salted ricotta or Pecorino del Monte Poro goes on top. 'Nduja from Spilinga, a soft spicy pork spread, melts into tomato for a fiery sauce. Lagane e ceci pairs the ribbons with chickpeas. Pasta with anchovies and toasted breadcrumbs is a poor man's classic. Pasta al forno layers rigatoni or paccheri with ragù, meatballs, cured meat, boiled egg, cheese, and aubergine.