Vermicelli alla Campolattaro III

Prep Time: 90 minutes

Cook Time: 90 minutes

Ingredients:

• For the broth: 1/4 pound (100 g) prosciutto
• A 2 3/4 pound (1.25 k) chicken, from which you will want to remove two filets of breast meat before making the broth
• 2 3/4 pounds (1.25 k) beef, cut from the shank -- what's known as gamboncello in Naples
• Onion, celery, carrot, parsley, basil, thyme, and bay leaf, to taste
• 2 cloves
• 1/4 pound (100 g) cured lard -- if you cannot find this, use prosciutto fat instead, not rendered lard
• 4 quarts (liters) water
• Salt & pepper
• The white sauce: 2 cups (500 ml) broth
• 1/3 cup (30 g) flour
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt
• The chenelles: The two reserved chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano
• 1/4 cup (25 g) flour
• 3 egg yolks
• The puré: The boiled chicken
• Parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• The white sauce made above
• 3/4 cup (200 ml) heavy cream
• In addition: 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) maccheroni or similar pasta
• The chicken puré (see above)
• The remaining broth plus sufficient water to reach 6 quarts (liters)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano

Preparation:

This recipe takes a couple of days, and there are many steps. To begin with, remove the chicken breast filets and set them aside. Then make the broth. When the chicken is tender but before it begins to fall apart, remove it from the broth and let it cool. In the meantime, continue simmering the beef until it does come apart. At this point remove the beef, which can be dedicated to something else, for example lesso rifatto, strain the broth, and, once it has cooled, put it in the refrigerator. The next morning, skim the fat off the top of the broth with a slotted spoon.

Make a very firm panatta (dough ball) by heating the butter and flour as if you were making béchamel sauce, and when the mixture has begun to color, energetically stirring in a little boiling water at a time; remove the mixture from the fire as soon as it no longer absorbs liquid (but rather tends to thin), salt it, and let it cool [Note: the panatta doesn't appear in the ingredients list].

Put the chicken filets through a meat grinder at least twice (in the past they used a mortar), and put the meat in a bowl. Combine it with the white sauce, two egg yolks, two tablespoons of Parmigiano, the minced parsley, salt, and pepper, and blend it all until the mixture is uniform.

In the meantime, bring half the broth to a bubble, but not a rolling boil, in a large, low-sided pot.

Take a heaping teaspoon of the chicken mixture and give it a rounded egg shape with the aid of a second teaspoon dipped in the broth, then slit it into the broth. If the chenelle falls apart, knead another egg yolk into the mixture. If it instead comes to the surface, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it in a bowl; continue making chenelles until all of the chicken mixture is used up, and then strain the broth.

Remove and shred all the meat from the chicken carcass, discarding the bones.

Use the flour, butter, and broth to make a white sauce, as if you were making béchamel sauce, keeping it fairly liquid but bringing it to a boil 2-3 times before you remove it from the fire. Mix into it the shredded chicken, blend it, and then add the minced parsley and cream, and mix well.

Check the seasoning of the sauce, and pour enough of it over the chenelles to cover them. Then warm the bowl with the chenelles over a double boiler.

In the meantime, set aside a few tablespoons of broth, and dilute the rest with sufficient water to obtain six quarts. Bring the diluted broth to a boil, salt it, and cook the pasta in it. Drain the pasta, transfer it to a skillet, and season it with the remaining chicken sauce and a handful of grated Parmigiano; cook, stirring, for a minute over a very low flame. Should the pasta be too dry, add the reserved chicken broth. If not, gently spoon half the chenelles over it, and serve, with the remaining chenelles on the side so your guests can add more to their bowls.

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