Chitarra: Spaghetto alla Chitarra con San Pietro alla Mugnaia, Olive Verdi Bella di Cerignola

Chitarra: Spaghetto alla Chitarra con San Pietro alla Mugnaia, Olive Verdi Bella di Cerignola is a composed pasta dish served at Arnolfo in Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy, as part of the venue’s *Piattoriccomicificco* series. The dish combines handmade “chitarra” pasta—square-cut spaghetti created with the traditional stringed tool of Abruzzo—with John Dory (San Pietro) prepared *alla mugnaia*, meaning dusted in flour and pan-fried in butter with lemon. Large, meaty Bella di Cerignola green olives from Puglia provide a briny counterpoint. The *chitarra* tool, which dates to the 18th century, produces a porous, rough surface that clings to sauces; a great version uses fresh egg pasta rolled to a medium thickness and cut with clean, even strokes. The fish must be perfectly golden and crisp outside while flaking inside, with the *mugnaia* sauce emulsified from butter, lemon, and parsley. The olives should be cracked or whole, their fruity bitterness cutting the richness. Regional variations of *spaghetto alla chitarra* often feature lamb ragù or simply olive oil and garlic, but Arnolfo’s interpretation elevates it with a seafood focus. Other cooks might substitute John Dory with sole or branzino, or use Castelvetrano olives for a milder flavor. The dish exemplifies the modern Italian tendency to rework classic techniques—pasta from Abruzzo, fish from the Tyrrhenian coast, olives from the south—into a single, precisely executed plate that respects each ingredient’s origin.