The spaghetti alassassina I’m a typical Apulian recipe, to be precise the city of Bari. A very particular first course that sees the pasta cooked directly in the pan with tomato sauce, for a burnt, crunchy and spicy result.
Ingrediants
- 320 g of spaghetti
- 150 g of tomato sauce
- 1 tube of tomato paste
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 dried chillies
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
The spaghetti alassassina I’m a first course of Apulian cuisine, precisely from Bari. A singed and spicy pasta, very particular, which seems to be called so precisely because of its spiciness: two customers of the restaurant where it was invented at the end of the 60s, in fact, would have told the owner Enzo Francavilla “You are a killer”, for that dish so good but so hot.
The dish consists of very few and simple ingredients. The peculiarity is the method of cooking the pasta: the spaghetti are cooked raw in a pan with a little passata and bathed in a minimal broth made with tomato paste. Their main feature is that of stick to the bottom of the pan (which to obtain this effect should be of iron): the result is therefore one charred paste, crunchy and brown-red in color.
Over the course of a few decades these spaghetti have become a symbol of the city of Bari, as well as real pop icon, thanks to the appearance both in cult novels such as those by Gabriella Genisi (one of which is entitled Spaghetti alassassina) which tell the adventures of Commissioner Lolita Lobosco.
But also on television: the character of Lolita Lobosco, in fact, from the pages of books arrived on TV, played by the actress Luisa Ranieri, who in an episode aired in March 2021 bites into these spaghetti. And from here was born a new interest in this recipe that seems easy, but it is not. Here is our version.
TO KNOW MORE’: Spaghetti alassassina: the Bari recipe that is a star
OTHER TASTY RECIPES: Penne alarrabbiata, spicy Bucatini, Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli
How to prepare: Spaghetti alassassina
- Execution
- average
- Preparation time
- 5 min
- Cooking time
-
20 min
- Portions
-
4
How to prepare: Spaghetti alassassina
To prepare spaghetti alassassina, first of all dedicate yourself to the broth. Boil the tomato paste and salt in plenty of water. In an iron pan, sauté the garlic cloves and the chopped dried chilli pepper in oil. Add the tomato puree and mix. Season with salt.
At this point add the raw spaghetti: move them slightly with the help of a wooden fork or with a spatula, so that they flavor. And let them stick to the bottom of the pan: once you feel that they have stuck, add a ladle of broth and continue cooking.
When the broth has absorbed, add another ladle, turn the spaghetti so as to put the part that was on the bottom on the bottom and continue cooking. Proceed in this way until cooked. But be careful not to move the pasta too much: obviously it must not burn, but the secret is to make the spaghetti stick to the pan evenly, so that they take on a crunchy consistency and a brown color.
After about 15 minutes, the spaghetti alassassina are ready to be served on the table.
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