Recipes

Cicatelli con salsa di datterino, rucola e Parmigiano

Pasta Cicatelli  with tomato sauce from Datterino, rucola and Parmesan

• 200 g of Cicatelli

(or another kind of pasta)​

• 1 tablespoon of coarse salt

• a bit of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1/2 jar of tomato sauce from Datterino

​(or another tomato sauce)

• a pinch of fine salt

• some leaves of rucola

• a bit of Parmesan

​

Pour a bit of extra virgin olive oil in a pot and warm it up with medium heat. When the oil is warm, cut the clove of garlic into two pieces and add them in the oil. Make them sizzle for a few seconds while stirring with a spoon. Then take the heat down, add the tomato sauce, a pinch of fine salt and let the sauce cook at low heat for 30 min. If the sauce seems too liquid, let it cook for a while without the lid; when the sauce has the right texture, continue with the lid. When the sauce is ready, remove the two pieces of garlic. Wash the leaves of rucola and let them dry.

Boil 2 L of water (1 L for every 100 g of pasta), add a tablespoon of coarse salt and mix with a spoon. Place the Cicatelli in the boiling water and stir gently with a spoon. Take aside a glass of the water in which the pasta is boiling, you might need it later. Taste the pasta and regulate the cooking time accordingly! Italians sieve pasta after tasting and feeling that it has the right texture, the so called scolare a sentimento. When the texture is right, i.e. al dente, sieve the water, put the Cicatelli back inside the pot, add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and mix gently. Now you can pour the tomato sauce and eventually a bit of the water from the boiling pasta: the mixing needs to feel smooth and the pasta needs to sound "smoochy".

Serve on the plates and add some flakes of Parmesan. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finally add some rucola leaves.