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!
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.
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.
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?
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