Fusilli alla napoletana
Pasta Recipe for Fusilli alla Napoletana
In Germany, they’re often called Spirelli, while Italians call them Fusilli. But once you’ve tasted the “spiral pasta” with tomato sauce made according to this recipe, you won’t care what it’s called.
Fusilli are a true classic of Italian cuisine. According to legend, they originated in the 16th century at the Florentine court of Cosimo I de’ Medici: The court chef dropped some pasta dough on the floor, his son picked it up and wrapped it around his grandmother’s knitting needle. It’s much more likely that the pasta shape originated in Campania, where older women at some point began winding spaghetti into spirals to dry and sell. What is certain, however, is that the gaps in the fusilli hold a particularly large amount of sauce.
Ingredients
100 g streaky bacon
1 bottle of ORO di Parma Passata Rustica (400 ml) or 1 can of ORO di Parma strained tomatoes with herbs (425 ml) (instead of oregano)
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1–2 tbsp ORO di Parma tomato paste with seasoned vegetables
100 g ricotta
50 g grated Pecorino (alternatively: Parmesan)*
fresh oregano (1 sprig)
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
¼ l white wine
500 g fusilli (spiral pasta)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
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*Certain types of cheese (e.g., Parmesan) are made with animal rennet and are therefore not suitable for vegetarian dishes.
Step 1 : The Preparation
Cut the bacon into small cubes. Next, peel the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic. Then chop everything into small pieces and set aside. Crumble the ricotta and pluck the oregano leaves.
Step 2 : The Tomato Sauce
Put everything you just finely chopped into a pot and sauté it over medium heat along with the tomato paste. Be sure to keep stirring—otherwise, your sauce base will burn.
After 2–3 minutes, deglaze your sauce base with the white wine. Then let everything come to a boil without rushing, and add the ORO di Parma strained tomatoes or ORO di Parma Passata Rustica. Continue stirring until your tomato sauce has a creamy sugo consistency.
Tip
To make a good tomato sauce, you need a little time. But sometimes you just need to get it done faster. In that case, feel free to experiment with store-bought tomato sauce. In this recipe, all you have to do is sauté the bacon, deglaze the pan, and add the sauce. Depending on your taste, you can also choose a sauce variety with herbs or a spicier one (Arrabbiata).
Step 3 : Cook the fusilli
To cook the fusilli, bring 3 liters of salted water (1 teaspoon of salt per liter) to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the fusilli and cook until al dente, following the package instructions.
Step 4 : The Finale
Drain the fusilli and toss the pasta—pronto, pronto—with the tomato sauce. Now just fold in 1 tablespoon each of Pecorino, ricotta, and oregano, and serve. Set the remaining Pecorino on the table. Help yourself if you’d like—and who wouldn’t?
