In the preparation of this simple and yet scrumptious dish the freshness of the very few ingredients is essential: the dough must be hand-made and the sheep's milk ricotta must be absolutely fresh. The calcioni are served with a meat sauce  flavoured witn marjoram leaves that are the most widely used herbs in the cookery of the Macerata area, but they can also be served plain, with mushrooms or even truffle scales !

Prepare the pasta dough by mixing  the flour and the eggs, adding a tablospoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix well, allow it to stand  in a covered dish for abour half an hour. Roll it out, cut it  into circles of about  6-8 cm diameter using a glass. In a bowl mix the ricotta cheese with the parmesan cheese, the marjoram, a couple of eggs, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Put the filling at the centre of each circle of pasta, brush the edges with a little water, fold it up, then seal the edges with the teeth of a fork. Arrange the calcioni on a paper tray, keeping them separate from one another and leave them to dry for at least one hour. Cook briefly in salted boiling water. Serve with your favourite sauce and sprinkled parmesan cheese.