Maltagliati with Veal and Saffron Ragout

In medium bowl, blend semola flour with eggs, knead to reach smooth, soft consistency that holds its shape when formed into ball.

Continue kneading dough with your palm on floured working space. Knead until dough is soft, elastic, and compact. Shape dough into ball, cover with plastic wrap to maintain elasticity.

Rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

In small bowl of cold water, place saffron threads and allow to soak for at least 2 hours. Finely mince celery, carrot and onion. Heat extra-virgin olive oil in medium sauté pan until hot, add minced vegetables and fresh herbs.

Be sure to sauté vegetables and herbs as long as possible without burning before adding ground veal. Add veal to sautéed vegetables and cook until browned. Add white wine, adjust to taste with salt and cook until wine evaporates. 

Once wine has cooked off, add saffron and its soaking liquid or meat and/or vegetable broth. Cover pan and simmer at least 45 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap, shape into rectangle approximately the width of your pasta machine. Begin rolling out dough using prepared pasta machine, generously dusting machine with semola to prevent dough from sticking. Flatten dough through machine until desired thickness is reached, adjusting knobs to make dough thinner with each passage.

Dust working space well with semola. Place pasta sheet on top of work space, and with either knife or paste cutter, cut dough into irregular square shapes. Dust kitchen tray with semola flour, and place pasta shapes on top. Maltagliati shapes can be made also directly from leftover dough when making ravioli or tortelli. In this case, use kitchen knife to simply cut leftover dough into irregular shapes. These are ideal for including into soups, broths, or with simple tomato sauce or basil pesto.

Boil large pot of salted water, add fresh maltagliati shapes, allow to cook for at least 2 minutes. Drain well, add veal sauce to pot with pasta.

Allow flavors to combine a few moments, and serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve hot.