Penne Strascicate

Penne Strascicate

A rustic Neapolitan pasta of penne tossed with sautéed greens, sausage, and a simple tomato sauce, finished with scamorza or provola. 'Strascicate' refers to the way the pasta is 'dragged' through the sauce to coat every ridge.

Prep

15 min

Cook

35 min

Total

50 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •360 g (12½ oz) penne rigate
• •300 g (10½ oz) Italian sausage, sweet or hot, casings removed
• •400 g (14 oz) canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
• •200 g (7 oz) escarole or chicory, trimmed and roughly chopped, or use spinach
• •150 g (5¼ oz) scamorza affumicata or provola, cut into small cubes; mozzarella is a milder substitute
• •2 cloves garlic
• •60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• •1 pinch chilli flakes, optional
• •10 g (⅓ oz) salt, for the pasta water, plus to taste
• •5 g (1 tsp) fine salt, for the sauce
• •15 g (¼ cup grated) Pecorino Romano, optional, for serving

Steps

1. 1 Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously (about 10 g per litre) so it tastes like sea water.
2. 2 Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the peeled garlic cloves and the chilli flakes and cook for about 1 minute until just golden, then fish out the garlic.
3. 3 Add the crumbled sausage meat to the pan and break it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook for 6–8 minutes until well browned and any liquid has evaporated.
4. 4 Add the chopped escarole to the pan with a pinch of salt and a splash of water. Cook for 4–5 minutes until wilted and tender.
5. 5 Pour in the hand-crushed tomatoes, season with salt, and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Adjust salt to taste.
6. 6 Drop the penne into the boiling water and cook 1 minute less than the package time, so it is just shy of al dente. Reserve about 200 ml (¾ cup) of pasta water before draining.
7. 7 Add the drained penne to the sauce pan along with a splash of the reserved pasta water. Toss vigorously over medium heat for about 1 minute so the ridges catch the sauce ('strascicate').
8. 8 Stir in most of the cubed scamorza off the heat so it melts into creamy strands rather than clumping. Loosen with more pasta water if needed.
9. 9 Plate immediately, top with the remaining scamorza cubes and a drizzle of olive oil. Finish with grated Pecorino if you like.