How to cook strozzapreti: two tasty recipes.

Pasta symbol of our country, strozzapreti have their roots back in time, becoming milestones of our cuisine.

The Strozzapreti… a name, a program!

Short pasta format spread practically throughout Italy, which the nineteenth-century definition given in Gioachino Belli's Sonnets, paints as “dried pasta cannelletti, one inch long to be cooked with Neapolitan Sughillo”.

Having become famous, precisely because of their strange shape, the strozzapreti conquered the center of popular satire, hinting at the proverbial gluttony of priests, gluttons par excellence, who - according to the sonnets of the time - ended up strangled by their own greed, gorging themselves on pasta, considered , among other things, a typically bourgeois food.

The curiosities about the etymology of the name do not end there, it seems that the name strozzapreti is inspired by the strozzerete, a curled leather lace used precisely to strangle priests at a time when anti-clericalism was very strong in our country, at the era of the papal state.

However, to be a genuine strozzapreti pasta, like any self-respecting format, the dough must have standard measurements, i.e. approximately 1.5 cm in width by 5 cm in length, folded manually.

Strozzapreti with mantis shrimp sauce, a first course with the scent of the sea!

Dinner with friends and you don't know what to propose? Strozzapreti with mantis shrimp sauce are an easy and quick first course to prepare, but tasty and fragrant, ideal for an informal dinner, here are the ingredients for 4 people:

- Strozzapreti: 350 gr
- Mantis shrimp: 12
- Shallot: 1
- White wine: 1 glass
- Peperincino: to taste
- Tomato puree: 300gr
- Basil: to taste
- EVO oil: half a glass
- Salt & Pepper: to taste
The process begins by rinsing the mantis shrimp well, keeping 4 of them for serving. Extract the pulp of the shrimp (blanched in water for a few minutes, softened), then fry it with shallots and chilli. Then add the mantis shrimp for the dish in order to flavor them correctly, blending everything with the white wine. Once the wine has evaporated, add the tomato puree, salt and embellish with basil.
Cook the strozzapreti in abundant salted water, toss them in the mantis shrimp sauce, serve lukewarm with the mantis shrimp preserved previously, and that's it!

Don't you love fish? No problem! Strozzapreti turkey and mushrooms:

If the scent of the sea is not for you, strozzapreti know no boundaries of taste and we offer you a recipe with a flavor of the countryside and undergrowth!

But no more chatter and here is the list of ingredients:
- Turkey breast: 300gr
- Champignon mushrooms: 300 gr
- Strozzapreti: 350 gr
- Spring onion
- 3 ripe tomatoes
- A tablespoon of dry chives
- Dried parsley to taste
- Laurel to taste
- A spoonful of tomato paste
- Dry white wine: 150ml
- EVO oil: two tablespoons
- Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation time: 20 minutes

You start by chopping the rump with a knife, boiling the tomatoes at the same time, which will then be peeled, cut and cleaned of seeds.
Grate the onion and cut the mushrooms, combine the meat, mushrooms, onion, tomato paste, a ladle of water and the white wine to blend in a pan, season with salt and let the sauce simmer until the meat is cooked and tender .
Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the turkey and mushroom sauce over high heat, stirring for a few minutes, serve hot.

There is nothing left to do but choose your favorite recipe and propose it to relatives and friends, for an evening full of good company!