The Killer Spaghetti Assassina!

Spaghetti Assassina

Spaghetti Assassina is an incredible and unusual pasta dish from Puglia in Italy. The pasta is cooked like risotto in a pan absorbing the tomato broth with chilli and garlic. The pasta also caramelises so that it has an unique crunchy texture so that it is spicy, crunchy and delicious all in one! There is no other spaghetti dish like Spaghetti Assassina! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader and can be easily made vegan.

Spaghetti Assassina (translated as "Killer Spaghetti") is a crispy, crunchy and spicy pasta dish hailing from Bari in Puglia, southern Italy (the heel in Italy's "boot" shape). Unlike most pasta dishes, Spaghetti Assassina is cooked directly in a frying pan without pre-boiling the pasta using method "risottatura," where you add ladles of seasoned tomato sauce or broth. The result is a deeply caramelised, crispy pasta with an intense spicy flavour.

The origin of the dish detailed by Apulian cuisine historian Felice Giovine, was that it was first made in 1967 at Al Sorso Preferito, a restaurant in the heart of Bari. The dish was the creation of Foggian chef Enzo Francavilla, who made it at the request of two Northern Italian patrons. Its intense spiciness prompted the diners to jokingly nickname Francavilla assassino ("murderer"), a term that later inspired the dish's name. And if you're the person that likes the crunchy, burnt bits at the bottom of a rice pan (like me!) then you'll love this Spaghetti Assassina!

Spaghetti Assassina

Tips For Making Spaghetti Assassina

1 - The most important thing is to use a pan large enough to fit in whole pieces of spaghetti. You will want a 30cm/12 inch frying pan at a minimum. Cast iron is the traditional pot but I used a ceramic non stick pan as my cast iron pan isn't big enough.

2 - To allow for easier absorption of the tomato broth I keep the broth in a pot on low heat so that you are always ladling in hot broth.

3 - Some say not to use bronze cut spaghetti as it won't caramelise but that is all that I had and it worked fine.

Spaghetti Assassina

4 - Try not to move the spaghetti in the pan while it is absorbing the broth. You can part the spaghetti a little to let the broth through but after the first coating with passata, it's best to let the spaghetti sit as is and not move it; this way it caramelises better. The spaghetti will not caramelise until crunchy if you move the spaghetti around the pan.

5 - Some people serve this with burrata but for me I love it as it is, in all of its spicy glory (a bit of grated parm is nice though). It doesn't even need a herb garnish!

6 - It takes around 30 minutes for the spaghetti to absorb all of the liquid.

Spaghetti Assassina

I'm sure you've all probably heard about the TikTok ban that might come into effect on January 18th and I'm actually really sad about that because I love TikTok and spend most of my time on there as a watcher. The algorithm is the best and unlike Instagram that seems intent on giving you exactly what you don't want, the TT one is so much better.

On the theme of assassins, I don't know about you Dear Reader but I am obsessed with the recent case of the alleged CEO Assassin Luigi Mangione. My Tiktok is all about videos of Luigi - so much so that I call it Luigi-tok. Like many on the internet, I lap up every little bit of Luigi lore. What are the chances that the CEO Assassin suspect is the most photogenic man alive? They cannot take a bad photo of this guy.

Every time I made this Spaghetti Assassina for Mr NQN I would call it my "Luigi spaghetti". So much so that now he asks if we are having Luigi spaghetti tonight!

So tell me Dear Reader, which is your favourite social media? Have you ever tried Spaghetti Assassina?

Spaghetti Assassina

Spaghetti Assassina

Did you make this recipe? Share your creations by tagging @notquitenigella on Instagram with the hashtag #notquitenigella
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An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves: 2-3 people or 4 as primi dish

  • 800ml/28flozs vegetable, chicken or beef broth
  • 130g/4.6ozs tomato paste
  • 60ml/2flozs extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 small chillies, finely chopped (3 if you like things really spicy!)
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
  • Salt, pepper and sugar for seasoning
  • 400ml/14flozs passata
  • 300g/10.6ozs spaghetti
  • 20g/0.7ozs butter

Spaghetti Assassina

Spaghetti Assassina

Step 1 - Whisk the broth with the tomato paste in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Keep on low heat to keep warm. Heat a large (at least 30cm/12inch) frying pan on medium heat that will fit in the whole length of spaghetti. Add the oil and fry the chillies and garlic for under a minute. Add the passata and place a lid on the pan and heat until simmering simmer. Season with salt, pepper and sugar (I use 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper). Then add the spaghetti into the simmering passata and coat all of the spaghetti with the passata. Cook for 3 minutes.

Spaghetti Assassina

Step 2 -Add the tomato broth in ladlefuls coating the pasta and adding more when it absorbs. It's important not to move the spaghetti too much at this stage. You can part the spaghetti a bit but try not to move it too much. The point is to keep it in place so that it caramelises. Keep adding broth and cooking the pasta on medium heat until it absorbs most of the broth and softens. It takes around 30 minutes total for the pasta to absorb and soften. About 25 minutes in you can lift up the pasta to check that it is becoming caramelised. Add butter in the last few minutes and melt to enrich the sauce. Then serve hot as is.

Spaghetti Assassina

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