Merkki: Pasta Garofalo

“Fusillo” is a southern word to indicate a kind of pasta similar to a spindle used and in order to shape it in its spiral shape it was used a knitting needle. Fusilli can be long or short: from the sheet of pastry were cut stripes long about 20 cm and with the hand rolled up on the needle. Other dialectal denominations in the different regions of Italy are: curls in Calabria, incannulate in Puglia, turcinateddi or fusiddi in Sicily, maccarones a ferritus in Sardegna. Once women were skilful at manufacturing fusilli, still in Gragnano, the city of Macaroni, this tradition still remains and some families transformed it in a trade business, selling it on holidays or on demand.

However, the key role was played by the unique climate of Gragnano: warm, but not too humid, due to the sea breeze. For its climatic characteristics, Gragnano became an ideal place for drying pasta, that originally was dried in the sun, exposed along the city roads. Pasta dried slowly, in a climate with an almost steady temperature and humidity, so that the result was a tasteful product, that could be stored for a long time with no risk of deterioration or contamination.

Recipe:Fusilli with rigatino, broad beans and Sicilian caciocavallo

Ingredients for 4 people:

- 400 g Fusilli Garofalo
- 100 g of Tuscan Rigatino from Lari "Macelleria Ceccotti"
- 100 g broad beans from Leonforte "Azienda Agricola Agrirape"
- Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil "Podere Spazzavento"
- 3/4 grilled peppers in olive oil "Arconatura"
- Sicilian Cacciocavallo "Cheese Factory Poma Gioacchino"

Soak the beans for 12 hours, boil for 40 minutes and then skin them.

Fry the diced Rigatino for 10 minutes in a frying pan, add the diced, grilled peppers and broad beans. After a few minutes, turn off the stove.

Cook the fusilli pasta for about 8 minutes until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Serve with a little olive oil and plenty of grated Sicilian caciocavallo.