Pasta a “taianu”: the tradition of Cefalù on the table

Pasta a “taianu”, that is, in a pan, is a typical dish of Cefalù. Its origins are most likely Arabic, in fact the term taianu comes from the Arabic “taio”, a terracotta container used to cook all the ingredients as they were added. It is prepared according to tradition, in the period between the feast of the Patron Saint SS, Savior, August 4 to 6 and the day of August. The pasta needs to be prepared in layers, with meat shredded by hand and cooked in the tomato to obtain the sauce, then add eggplant and pecorino cheese.

The original recipe however provides two types of meat, lamb and beef, while some varanti use pork. Once the layers are created, they start to be handled. The pasta is cooked on wood on a terracotta pot, on coals, always according to tradition.

The ingredients To prepare the pasta to “taianu” are necessary:

•400 g. of rigatoni;

• 300 g. of veal iudisco;

• 200 g. of lamb castrate;

• 10 basil leaves;

• One eggplant;

• two cloves of garlic;

• 150 g. mature pecorino cheese;

• half a glass of white wine;

• 250 g. of tomato extract diluted in a litre and a half of warm water;

• salt and pepper.

Preparation:

To prepare this traditional dish you have to put olive oil in a pan, heat it and put the whole meat. Once cooked over low heat, pour the wine and let it fade. Then pour the tomato extract, add salt, pepper and a little water and finally, the basil leaves. Now it is necessary to cook over low heat for at least an hour. At the same time, the eggplant is peeled and sliced, then fried on both sides in olive oil.

Then take the meat from the sauce and fray it, and at the same time fray also the eggplants. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, take a large pan high to put on the bottom a little ‘sauce and oil; so begin to prepare the layers of pasta, sauce, meat, eggplant and cheese at intervals. Let cook for a few minutes and meanwhile stir over the heat to mix well.

At this point your pasta a taianu can be served on a plate!