Cicatielli con pulieio

I love Puglia. the most tranquil, historical and lovey part of Italy. oh yeah, I'm biased as I own a tiny appartamento across the street from the adriatic sea in a charming small town named San Cataldo a few clicks from the baroque masterpiece of the city of Lecce. 

There is a lot to love in Puglia/Salento, the gorgeous weather, the warm people, the history of the Mediterranean world at your fingertips. and oh yes, the food. Fresher than fresh seafood, organic lamb and mutton, the best olive oil in the world (fight me!) and the focus of today's post, rustic pasta recipes.

This one called out to me as I have all the ingredienti right here in my gardens:  Fresh, wild mint, basil, tomatoes. And I had just finished my first tries at eggless pasta making and had cavaletti and orecchiette fresh dried in my pantry.

Cicatielli con pulieio

This dish is a typical Puglian sauce with cooked pesto of mint and basil, slow simmered in roma tomatoes.  It's almost defies words at the fragrant umami of oil, herbs and tomatoes and frankly was about the best pasta dish I've ever had. Okay, okay, I previously said that this was the best, so it's more like a tie. 

In any case, try this one out. it's veggie/herb based (even vegan!) and is easy as can be to whip up. And it's just enough different than any tomato based sauce that your friends will think you're a genius.

The how-to:

1.5 cups, loosely packed Basil

1.5 cups, loosely packed wild mint

3 garlic cloves crushed

2.5 tbsps olive oil

--> manually mortar and pestle or food processorize them in to a pesto paste.

Set it aside.

In a large skillet medium heat put 4 tbsps Extra virgine olive oil (varies by the size of your skillet).

When it gets all shimmery, pour the pesto in and stir/cook it for about 5 minutes.

Then add a large pinch (a full teaspoon) of peperoncini (red pepper flakes) and cook until super fragrant -  about 1-2 minutes tops.

Then add in a cup of roma tomatoes, roughly pounded, but still with some structural integrity and a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes.

Stir in  and reduce to a slow simmer. let it simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  At first ti's going to look like there is too much oil, but it will thicken around the 18th minute. Have faith.

For the cavatelli pasta:

Bring a large pot of water to boil and after heavily salting, toss in your pasta. Mine was freshly made and only partially dried, so it only took 3-4 minutes to hit that chewy, tuggy, southern al dente. Watch it like a hawk. You don't want it overdone. 

When it's ready, reserve a ladle or two of the starchy pasta water, drain the rest and toss it with/in the sauce after adding about a ladle full to the sauce (to help the sauce stick to the pasta.  Use any of the rest of the reserved pasta water hit your desired viscosity.

Serve immediately with an excellent Puglian red.