Fregula

Semolina rolled into beads by hand and toasted before it is cooked.

Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish.

Ingredients

Fregula

• 400 g coarse semolina
• 150 ml warm salted water

To dress

• 1 kg clams, purged
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 300 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100 ml dry white wine
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Put the semolina in a wide shallow bowl. Sprinkle a little of the warm water over and RUB YOUR PALM IN SLOW CIRCLES through it. Irregular beads form as the damp grains gather others.
2. Carry on adding water a few drops at a time and rubbing until most of the semolina has become beads between 2 and 4 mm. They are meant to be uneven.
3. Shake them through a coarse sieve to take out the dust.
4. NOW TOAST THEM. Spread on a tray and bake at 180C for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking twice, until patched with gold. This is the step the pasta is named for and it is not drying: toasting is where the nutty taste comes from, and untoasted fregula is simply lumpy semolina.
5. Cook the garlic in the oil, add the clams and wine, cover and steam 4 minutes until they open. Lift them out and strain the liquor.
6. Add the tomatoes to the pan with the strained liquor and 300 ml water, and simmer 5 minutes.
7. Tip the fregula in and cook 12 minutes, stirring, as you would a risotto, until it has drunk most of the liquid.
8. Return the clams, scatter the parsley, and serve loose rather than dry.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes