Matasse

Ingredients Durum-wheat flour and water, or durum-wheat flour and eggs.

How Made Factory-made dry tagliatelle, rolled up to form small matasse, or “skeins.” They are sold in different widths and boiled in broth or abundant salted water.

Also Known As Nidi (nests).

How Served The thinnest are cooked in broth, the rest as pastasciutta.

Where Found Widespread.

Remarks The name means literally “skeins.” When making pasta at home was common, housewives often made noodles, both with eggs and with just flour and water to dry and store. In the south, after the pasta was cut and partially dried, the noodles were rolled into a matassa mea sured with an inverted caffelatte cup. They were then dried completely in the air and kept in the pantry.