This is the second dish from the menu that I have come up with to celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy. It is the main dish of the theme menu and, like the entree already published -“Tricolore salad”- it also has the colors of the Italian flag: white, red and green. This recipe is very simple as well. I thought of making “strascinati”, which is a type of handmade pasta typical from the south of Italy, with tomatoes, basil and salted ricotta cheese. I have posted a tutorial on “How to make strascinati at home” in the Techniques page of this site.
I am also sharing this post with my event 150 years of the Unification of Italy.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
1 big clove of garlic
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
600 gms tinned diced tomatoes
6-8 leaves of basil (plus more for decoration)
1 pinch of sea salt
400 gms strascinati
Italian Ricotta salata (salted ricotta) very finely grated to serve plus some slivers for decoration.
Put the clove of garlic and 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan.
Let the garlic fry on a slow fire for 1 minute, add the diced tomatoes, basil leaves, a pinch of salt and cover.
Let the sauce cook on a very low fire for about 15-20 minutes.
Grate the salted ricotta and cut some slivers of it. Keep them aside.
In the meantime, cook the strascinati following the steps on “How to cook pasta al dente”. Only in this case you will not have a pre set cooking time. This will vary on the thickness of your strascinati (it should take approximately 5 minutes). So, the best solution is to taste it! Remember, it does have to remain firm.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it, put it in the frying pan with the tomato sauce and put the fire on a medium flame.
Add 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and stir well making sure the pasta is well coated in the sauce. Serve it hot and decorate it with slivers of Ricotta salata and some basil leaves. Sprinkle some grated salted ricotta on the top and enjoy it.
Love this simple, beautiful and flavor packed dish….
Yummy…one more beautiful and delicious dish..wonderful!!!
This looks beyond delicious!
Absolutely gorgeous. Love the look of strascinati: I often forget just how many pasta varieties you have in Italy so it’s high time to try something a bit different. Love how they curl up slightly to catch the sauce. Salted ricotta on pasta is also a lovely change to parmesan. Must try this. Thanks, Manu!
I never heard of STRASCINATI but the dish looks so yummy and I am sure I will love it.. I can just say it .. 🙂
Your blog is an education Manu. I learn something new (and delicious) every time I visit. I have another new pasta to add to my list.
What a stunning pasta! I love the salty, milky flavor of ricotta salata. This is mouth watering!
I love these flavors! Classic and clean!
Your “strascinati” are so different from mine: these looks more like “cavatelli” (but, of course, it’s only an opinion, and a matter of form :P), but they really looks amazing!
I always use ricotta salata (cow or hoax milk) on them! 🙂