How to make 'sagne torte' with meatballs from Puglia | Pasta Grannies

Caterina and Lucia - with a little help from granddaughter Miriam - share their recipe for 'sagne torte con sugo di pomodoro e polpettini' a twisted ribbon pasta, dished up with tomato sauce and mini meatballs. This is a classic dish from the Salento region of Puglia and the pasta is also known as 'sagne ncannulate'.

For the dough, use semola, durum wheat flour. Allow about 80-100g per person. How much water you add will depend on the flour, the temperature and the humidity, but it will be about 50% of the flour weight. eg 400g semola flour will need about 200ml of water. But don't panic if it's not exact, you want a dough that hangs together but isn't sticky.

For Caterina's tomato sauce:
Olive oil
1 x 750ml bottle of tomato passata
1 onion, 1 garlic clove
fresh basil, salt pepper, chilli flakes

Caterina's meatballs:
300g each ground pork and beef
40g breadcrumbs
40g grated 'grano' hard cheese
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons wine
1 beaten egg
nutmeg, salt and pepper
Oil for frying.
In Puglia they use olive oil because that's what is available. I use rice bran oil - a tip given to me by a Michelin starred Italian chef, Mauro Uliassi