Pasta with tomato sauce and friggitelli

Name: Pasta with tomato sauce and friggitelli
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Casarecce pasta 11.3 oz; Friggitelli (chili peppers) 0.9 lb; Tomato purée made from datterino tomatoes 2 ½ cups; Basil to taste; Garlic 2 cloves; Fresh chili pepper 1; Black pepper to taste; Extra virgin olive oil 1 ½ tbsp; Fine salt to taste; Grana Padano PDO cheese 1.8 oz

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Serving: 4

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PRESENTATION

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Friggitelli is built around an ingredient worth knowing: friggitelli, the slender sweet green peppers found throughout southern Italy, mild enough to slip into a sauce but distinct enough to shape it entirely. Typical of the region, they are usually cooked in a pan or fried whole — here, they are browned until their sweetness concentrates, then folded into passata di datterino, a purée made from small, intensely flavored datterino tomatoes. The result comes together with casarecce, the short twisted pasta that catches every bit of sauce in its curves.

It is an easy, fragrant dish, well suited to a summer lunch with family or a relaxed dinner with friends. The browning step is what gives the dish its depth. Rather than staying soft and mild, the friggitelli take on a little color in the pan, and that extra step makes the finished sauce richer and more cohesive than the short ingredient list might suggest. The casarecce holds the sauce well, so every forkful carries both the silky peppers and the bright, sweet datterino purée in equal measure.

How to prepare Pasta with tomato sauce and friggitelli

To prepare the pasta with tomato sauce and friggitelli, start with the sauce. In a small saucepan pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add the peeled garlic clove and the basil stalks 1, then let them gently sauté for a few minutes. Add the datterino tomato passata 2, season with salt 3 and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, take care of the friggitelli: wash them, cut them in half 4, remove the stem and the seeds 5. If they are very large you can halve them again lengthwise 6.

In a skillet heat a splash of oil with a garlic clove and the fresh chili pepper 7; if you prefer a spicier flavor you can chop it. Let the flavors infuse, then add the friggitelli 8 and season with salt 9.

Cover with a lid 10 and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until they are soft but still slightly firm 11. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the casarecce 12 according to the time indicated on the package.

Once cooked, remove the basil sprigs and the garlic from the sauce 13. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the friggitelli 14, then chop the basil 15.

Add the basil to the sauce 16; drain the pasta al dente directly into the sauce 17 and mix everything well over high heat 18.

Finish with freshly ground black pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated Grana Padano PDO; stir until you obtain a creamy, well-bound sauce. Serve the pasta hot with a few fresh basil leaves.

Storage

Pasta with tomato sauce and friggitelli can be stored in the refrigerator, in a closed container, for 1 day. Freezing is not recommended. Before serving again you can reheat it in a skillet with a drizzle of oil or a few tablespoons of water.

Tip

If you want to make the dish even more aromatic, you can fry a few whole friggitelli to use as a final garnish and add them directly to the plates when serving.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.

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