Maltagliati pasta is made from scraps of other pastas and is popular in Italy for its irregular shapes. It is best suited for soups and pasta dishes, and can be made with different grains and flavors. It can be bought dried or made fresh at home.
Maltagliati pasta is a pasta obtained from waste and scraps left after other pastas have been made. Random maltagliati shapes of pasta have become so popular in parts of Italy that some companies actually deliberately make this pasta, rolling out large sheets of pasta and cutting them into rough trapezoids. This pasta is most commonly found in areas where fresh pasta is available, although it is sometimes sold dried. In a pinch, you can break up lasagna noodles to make maltagliati.
The name of this pasta literally means “badly cut”, a reference to the crazy and irregular shapes that can be found in a package of maltagliati. Pasta appears to have originated in the Emilia district of northern Italy, though undoubtedly Italians have been using their scraps for hundreds of years, since there’s no reason to throw out perfectly good pasta dough.
The rough pasta shape is suitable for soups such as minestrone and is a classic accompaniment to pasta e fagioli, or “pasta and beans,” a popular Italian dish that has spread to other regions of the world. Maltagliati are less suited to things like baked pasta dishes, as their irregular shapes can cook unevenly. They can also be plated with some sauces, depending on how freaked out you are when serving pasta.
Just as with other pastas, this pasta can come in a variety of flavors, depending on what has been added to the dough. It’s also made with a variety of different types of grain. If you’re buying dry maltagliati, try getting pasta made with durum wheat, which is firmer. Durum wheat will stand up to prolonged cooking, allowing the pasta to remain springy and chewy even after being cooked a little too long. For fresh pasta, the use of durum wheat isn’t as important, but the pasta will likely be of higher quality with durum wheat.
Some Italian markets and importers may carry dry maltagliati, and if you happen to live near a pasta factory, you can probably pick up fresh pasta quite cheaply that way. You can also make fresh maltagliati at home with the help of a pasta machine. Mix your favorite dough, roll it out thinly and cut it randomly with a knife to generate irregular shapes, preferably of the same size so that they have similar cooking times.
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