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Scialatelli from Italy

Scialatelli

📍 Campania ★ 4.2
Last updated Aug 23, 2026 · Reviewed by the WhatWhereVacay editorial team

Scialatelli are thick fresh pasta strands from Campania, Italy, served with Mediterranean seafood along the Amalfi Coast. The pasta of "taking it easy."

About Scialatelli

Scialatelli are thick, short strands of fresh pasta from the Campania region of southern Italy, particularly the Sorrento Peninsula and Amalfi Coast. Unlike most Italian pasta shapes, scialatelli are cut from a rolled sheet of dough into fat, squared-off strips resembling stubby shoelaces. The dough is made with finely ground durum wheat semolina, eggs, and sometimes a splash of olive oil, resulting in a springy, resilient texture that holds up well to bold sauces and seafood.

The most iconic preparation is scialatelli ai frutti di mare, where the pasta is tossed with a generous medley of fresh Mediterranean seafood: mussels, clams, prawns, baby octopus, and calamari, sautéed in garlic, white wine, cherry tomatoes, and parsley. The pasta's rough, porous surface catches every drop of the briny seafood sauce, making each bite intensely flavourful. Scialatelli are a summer staple along the Amalfi Coast, served in simple seaside trattorias where the catch of the day dictates the menu. The name is thought to derive from scialare, a Neapolitan dialect word meaning "to enjoy" or "to take it easy" — fitting for a dish designed for leisurely meals overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.

🏛️ History & Culture

Scialatelli (also spelled scialatielli) is a fresh pasta from the Campania region of Italy, particularly associated with the Amalfi Coast and the city of Salerno. Its name likely derives from the Neapolitan dialect word "scialare," meaning to enjoy or relax, reflecting its festive, celebratory character. The pasta is made from flour, eggs, semolina, and often a splash of water or white wine, giving it a dense, chewy texture that holds thick sauces well.

Regional variations include thicker or thinner strands, and it is traditionally served with seafood, such as clams, mussels, or shrimp, or with a simple tomato and basil sauce. While its exact origins are debated, it is widely considered a modern reconstruction of an older, rustic pasta, popularized in the 1970s by chef Enrico Cosentino, who is often credited with its revival. Culturally, scialatelli embodies the coastal Italian philosophy of simplicity and quality ingredients, making it a beloved staple in seaside restaurants and home kitchens alike.

🍳 How to make Scialatelli

AI-assisted, not kitchen-tested

Scialatelli (Hand-Rolled Semolina Pasta from the Amalfi Coast)

Scialatelli is a rustic, thick ribbon pasta from the Amalfi Coast of Campania, traditionally made by hand-rolling small ropes of dough around a thin wooden dowel (or a chopstick at home). It is most famously paired with a seafood or fresh tomato sauce.

Prep
30 min
Cook
4 min
Total
34 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium

Recipe ingredients

  • 200 g (1⅓ cups) semolina flour, fine durum semolina rimacinata, traditional
  • 100 g (¾ cup) type 00 flour, or additional semolina if unavailable
  • 2 whole (2 large) eggs, room temperature
  • 1 whole egg yolk, for richer dough
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) warm water, only if needed for hydration
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt

Steps

  1. 1 Mound the semolina and 00 flour on a clean wooden board or work surface, make a wide well in the center, and sprinkle the salt around the rim of the well.
  2. 2 Crack the whole eggs and the extra yolk into the well. Using a fork, beat the eggs while gradually pulling in flour from the inside walls of the well until a thick slurry forms.
  3. 3 Knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, firm, and elastic but not sticky; add warm water only by the teaspoon if the dough feels too dry, or dust with a little semolina if it sticks. The traditional dough should be quite firm.
  4. 4 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (do not refrigerate, as the dough should remain pliable).
  5. 5 Pinch off small walnut-sized pieces of dough (about 15 to 20 g each) and roll each piece between a lightly floured palm and a thin wooden dowel, chopstick, or pencil handle into a short, thick rope about 12 to 15 cm long and roughly the thickness of a pencil. Traditional scialatelli are irregular and rustic, not uniform.
  6. 6 Dust the shaped pasta with semolina and spread on a tray; they can be cooked immediately or air-dried for up to 4 hours.
  7. 7 Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil (about 10 g salt per liter). Drop in the scialatelli and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float to the surface and the center is tender when bitten; they should remain pleasantly chewy (al dente).
  8. 8 Drain the pasta, reserving a small ladle of the cooking water, and toss immediately with your sauce of choice, loosening with a splash of the reserved water if needed.
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