Making Maccaronara with Maria

Last week, I was very fortunate to get a one on one lesson in the art of making one of my favorite Italian dishes; Maccaronara! Castelvetere Sul Calore is well known for its Maccaronara and even has a festival dedicated to the art of rolling out dough made simply of flour and water that is topped off with the perfect tomato sauce. My instructor was one of my favorite people; Maria. She has made this dish a countless number of times and was going to make it for the family on this day. I jumped at the opportunity to document her process in hopes of learning some secrets. We made (well mostly Maria) the pasta in her basement kitchen which is used for the hard-core cooking. If you are Italian or have Italian friends you will understand this! The 'cooking’ kitchen is where all the magic happens. The upstairs kitchen is for warming sauce, making salads and espresso. Although the ingredients are basic making maccaronara is hard work. Maria said that you can't let it sit very long. As soon as it’s rolled out and cut into strips it needs to be boiled and eaten! My mother was telling me that women would make this fresh pasta daily. It was my nonno's favorite. Tony Canadese also bbq’d over the fire for this delicious lunch. Here are some photos. I also took some video which might be why some of the early stages of the process are missing. Many thanks to Maria for letting us into her kitchen!