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Shallow white bowl of clear golden broth holding fluted round marubini, with grated Grana Padano on a linen napkin

Marubini Cremonesi in Slow-Simmered Three-Meat Broth

Small round pasta filled with beef, pork and Grana Padano, cooked in a slow-simmered broth of beef, pork and chicken. Serves 6 in about 4 1/4 hours, mostly unattended.
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Prep Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 55 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Primo
Cuisine: Italian (Northern Italy)
Calories: 678
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Three-meat broth
  • 600 g beef shank bone-in
  • 400 g pork shank or bone-in pork shoulder
  • 2 chicken legs (about 700 g); skin removed
  • 1 yellow onion (150 g); peeled, halved
  • 1 carrot (100 g); peeled
  • 1 celery stalk with leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 black peppercorns
  • 2 tsp coarse salt
  • 3 l cold water
Filling
  • 150 g cooked beef and pork from the broth (about 100 g beef, 50 g pork); trimmed of fat and gristle, finely minced
  • 40 g Grana Padano finely grated
  • 25 g fine dry breadcrumbs (about 3 tbsp)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp hot broth (30 ml); from the pot
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg freshly grated
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
Pasta dough
  • 300 g 00 flour plus extra for dusting
  • 3 eggs large
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 2 tbsp fine semolina for dusting the tray
To serve
  • 30 g Grana Padano freshly grated
  • black pepper to taste; freshly ground

Method
 

Simmer the broth
  1. Put the beef shank, pork, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and coarse salt in an 8-quart / 7.5 L stockpot, about 26 cm / 10 inches wide. Add 3 L cold water, set over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, about 20 minutes. Skim off the gray foam as it collects.
  2. Lower the heat so the surface barely moves, about 95 C / 203 F, with one bubble every second or two. Partly cover and keep skimming for the first 30 minutes. After 1 hour 45 minutes of simmering, add the skinless chicken legs and simmer 45 minutes more, for a total of 2 1/2 hours.
Make the dough while the chicken cooks
  1. Mound the 300 g flour and 1/4 tsp salt on a work surface and make a well. Crack in the 3 eggs, break them up with a fork, then draw in the flour and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springy. Wrap it tightly and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Strain the broth and make the filling
  1. Lift the meats onto a board. Strain the broth through a fine sieve lined with a clean kitchen towel into a 5-quart / 4.7 L pot, about 24 cm / 9.5 inches wide, and skim off most of the surface fat. You should have about 2.4 L. Keep it on the lowest heat. Let the beef and pork cool for 15 minutes until you can handle them.
  2. Trim 100 g beef and 50 g pork of fat and gristle and mince them finely with a knife. Mix with the 40 g Grana Padano, breadcrumbs, egg yolk, 2 tbsp hot broth, nutmeg, pepper and 1/4 tsp salt. The mixture should hold together when pinched. If it feels wet, add a spoonful more breadcrumbs.
Shape and cook the marubini
  1. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and keep three wrapped. Roll one piece to a 1 mm sheet with a pasta machine or rolling pin, then roll a second. Set 1 tsp mounds of filling on the first sheet, about 5 cm apart, and cover with the second. Press out the air around each mound, then cut with a 4 cm / 1.5-inch fluted cutter.
  2. Transfer the marubini to a sheet pan, 33 x 46 cm / 13 x 18 inch, dusted with the semolina, without letting them touch. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make about 66, and cook within 1 hour.
  3. Bring the strained broth to a simmer and adjust the salt. Add the marubini and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until they float and the sealed edge is tender. Ladle 10 to 12 marubini and about 400 ml broth into each warm bowl and top with the 30 g Grana Padano and black pepper. Slice the boiled meats for a second course.

Notes

  • Salt the broth lightly at the start and adjust at the end, since Grana adds salt in the bowl.
  • Let the cooked meat cool for 15 minutes before mincing so it's easy to trim and handle.
  • Keep dough pieces wrapped while you roll, and work two sheets at a time.
  • Press out the air around each mound of filling before cutting, so the seals stay shut.