parmatieddi

Parmatieddi are a fresh pasta from Teggiano in the Vallo di Diano. The dough mixes soft wheat flour, durum semolina, water and salt. Families vary the blend. The cook cuts a thin rope of dough into short pieces. Three or four fingers then drag each piece across the board. The result is a flat, slightly elongated leaf with raised edges and finger grooves. Wikipedia, citing Zanini De Vita, calls them a larger, flatter cavatelli. One local recipe starts from a cylinder one centimetre wide and five centimetres long.

They come from Campania, in the province of Salerno. Teggiano serves them as the first course of the Palm Sunday lunch. The leaf shape recalls the palm fronds of that feast. The usual dressing is a meat ragù. Grated pecorino or salted ricotta goes on top. A local variant, parmatieddi con fagioli e porva, pairs them with beans.