My Not-Yet-World-Famous Anolini/Annalini

While I was growing up, every Christmas our family would enjoy a large family gathering and an Italian dish called Anolini. When I decided I would make some to quench my 5 year long craving I ran into a few problems. First I couldn’t spell Anolini or Annalini or whatever (…Gah! I’ve made my point!) so trying to locate a recipe online proved to be more difficult than you would first think! And second I couldn’t get the recipe from my Aunt who used to make the dish, because she’s currently in Italy. How ironic. Sorta. I also had a bit of a hunch that maybe the name that has been assigned to it within my family, may not be the official name… which may have also lead to the difficulty in locating anything online to help me out. Rather than be beaten by old memories and lack of contact with those who count, I’ve gone ahead and made a recipe out of a few others with the help of my Father (thanks dad!). My hope is that by now posting it online, other people can locate a good Anolini recipe. After the short break there will be a full recipe with pictures of my progress in trying to make my favourite past-time Italian Christmas dish.

This was my first time making the dish, so I’ve really gone all out in making as much of it from scratch as possible but essentially the dish is quite easy and is composed of 3 things.

1. Chicken and Beef stock mixed together to make the broth
2. Anolini pasta (which is like a ravioli)
3. Parmesan cheese to melt over each serving.

If you want to take the easy way out, you could just mix those together and have a lame version of it… Here we go.

Part 1 – Pasta Filling

• 350g beef roast. (the leaner, the better)
• 350g pork roast.
• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• onion, carrot, celery (or as my father calls them, the holy trinity)
• a few cloves of whole uncut garlic
• 2 glasses (8oz) of Red Wine (I suggest a Valpolicella, but I’ve used Masi Campofiroin)
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 cloves
• 300g Parmesan cheese
• 150g breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• salt, pepper, nutmeg

It would be wise to do this step first so that it can cook while you do other things. Start by searing both the beef and pork roasts in the butter and olive oil on the stove. If it makes it easier you may want to do them separately, however you’ll be putting these into your slow cooker or pot together later. Chop the trinity veggies and layer the bottom of your pot/slow cooker. Put the garlic and 1 glass of the red wine into the pot with the roasts. The base of my crock pot was quite wide so I’ve also added a glass of water to help with the cooking. Do not worry if it doesn’t cover the meat, as long as you have a lid to keep the moisture from escaping this wont matter. Cook on low for approx 4 hours. Mix the tomato paste with a little hot water in order to dilute the mixture and then add to the pot. Also add the second glass of red wine and then cook for another 4 hours.

Strain the now beef/pork stock from the veggies, and meat and set aside for later. Remove any garlic as it is now bitter and grind the meat and veggies into a paste. Add the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, cloves, eggs, and other spices into the meat and veggie paste until homogeneous. Let the mixture cool.

Part 2 – Chicken Stock

• Chicken/Hen Carcass (dark meat cuts work well, you’re looking for bones here)
• The Holy Trinity (onion, carrot, celery)
• a few cloves of whole uncut garlic

This will likely be the easiest of the steps and requires you only to put a pot on the stove with enough water to cover the bird and all your veggies. Be mindful that the more water you use, the weaker the stock will be. Let this boil on the stove for at least an hour and a half. Strain the broth of veggies, meat, and bones so that only chicken stock remains. Put this chicken stock aside until directed later.

Part 3 – Beef Stock

• Beef Bones
• The Holy Trinity (onion, carrot, celery)
• a few cloves of whole uncut garlic

The Beef Stock is very much like the Chicken stock, so you’ll follow the steps from the chicken stock exactly.

Part 4 – Pasta

• 800g of all purpose flour
• 8 whole eggs
• 3 tbps olive oil

Start by putting all of your flour in a pile in the middle of your working area. Make a well in the middle and put a few of the eggs into the center. Using your hands slowly work the eggs into the outer walls of flour. Add the olive oil as you kneed the dough into a solid workable mass. Let the dough rest by putting it in plastic wrap and letting it rest for at least 30 minutes. I’ve let it rest for the entire afternoon in the fridge.

When you’re ready to make the actual pasta then put the dough out on your pasta mat and roll it flat. You want the dough to be approx. a quarter of a centimeter thick. Cut the flattened dough into long strips wide enough to be the size of one bite size Anolini if it were unfolded. Insert a little larger than a thumb nail size of pasta filling and put egg around the edges. Fold the dough over onto it self and squeeze it together with two fingers. If you would like you can make the pasta look nice by adding a decorative edge with a fork.

Place the uncooked dough into a pot of bowling water, and remove once they float. This should be less than 2 minutes each so ensure that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot and deceive you. Once the pasta is cooked you may put this aside until your broth and cheese is ready.

Part 5 – Broth

• Beef Stock
• Chicken Stock
• Run off from the Pasta filling

Ensure that there is no bones or vegies left in the broth before mixing together. Once mixed together you may need to remove any excess amounts of oil from the surface of the broth. This should be re-heated when ready to serve the bowls of Anolini.

Part 6 – Presentation and Completion.

Fill the bottom of a bowl with as many of the Anolini as you would like to serve, then pour the broth over top. Grate some of the Parmesan cheese over the bowl so that it create a layer of melted cheese over the soup. Serve with a dry wine as to heighten the flavours of the Anolini.

Pictures of the process: