The strozzapretialso called stranglepriests, are a fresh pasta format perfect for seasoning with different types of sauces: from simple fresh tomato sauce to seafood or with a simple seasoning based on butter, anchovies and lemon. Strozzapreti are very versatile and also very simple to prepare: just combine 00 flour, water and a pinch of salt to make the dough, which will then be manipulated to create the individual pieces twisted macaroni typical. It seems that strozzapreti were born as a poor preparation and there are many legends that revolve around the name of this particular type of pasta, which has survived to this day and has become one of the basis of Italian cuisine. Fresh homemade pasta always has a different flavour: try preparing scialatielli, tonnarelli and trofie too!

Preparation

1

Pour all the flour onto a work surface, preferably wooden. Form a fountain, making a small basin in the centre.

2

Add the fine salt and the warm water. The water should be slightly warmer than room temperature, but should not be too hot. Heat it for 20 seconds in the microwave.

3

Mix initially using a fork and slowly recovering all the flour from the sides of the well so as to incorporate it into the water. Once the liquid has been absorbed, start kneading with your hands.

4

Knead until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough, then let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, covered with cling film

5

Once the rest time has passed, take the dough again, cut out pieces and cover the remaining dough to prevent it from drying out. Use one piece at a time to make your strozzapreti, flattening it first with a rolling pin.

6

You should obtain a sheet with a thickness of about 2 millimetres. Cut the pastry into 1.5 cm strips.

7

Take one strip at a time and roll it between the palms of your hands, sliding it gently back and forth, so as to twist it slightly.

8

Each strozzaprete should be approximately 6-8 cm long, so remove the piece already formed from the strip of dough and place it on the pastry board. Continue with the rest of the strip and with all the other strips of dough, placing them gradually on the pastry board, until all the dough is used up. Your strozzapreti are ready to be cooked or preserved.

Tips and tricks

To cook the strozzapreti, let them freeze for 30 minutes first to prevent them from sticking together. Then place a pan of water on the heat, add the salt and when it starts to boil, pour in the strozzapreti. Cook them for 6-7 minutes.

You can also mix the strozzapreti with the planetary, fitting a dough hook and working the dough at medium speed.

To prevent the strozzapreti pasta from sticking to your hands while you give them their typical shape, moisten your palms and fingers with a little water.

We advise you to use the 00 flour or, at most, 0 flour. Other types of flour could absorb too much water or make your Strozzapreti too elastic or hard. In this regard, we advise you to read our article on the different types of flour and how to use them for your preparations.

Conservation of Strozzapreti

You can let the strozzapreti dry by covering them with a dry cloth. In this way they can be preserved for 15 daysin a cool place.

You can freeze them by placing them spaced apart on a tray for 30 minutes so that they harden, then pour them into a special bag for freezing.

Curiosity

The name “strozzapreti”, as well as its variant “strangolapreti” derives from the popular tradition according to which priests are particularly fond of quality food. This very thick pasta with a rather chunky consistency is heavy and it is necessary to eat it in small forkfuls: otherwise you would run the risk of “choking”. Another legend tells that the women of Romagna prepared this pasta to give to the priests on Sundays, while their husbands were forced to sip the usual vegetable soup: for this reason they wished the priests to “choke”. Strozzapreti were typically prepared during holidays and seasoned with tomato and meat sauce.