Pasta con i Peperoni Cruschi

Dried sweet peppers fried for five seconds and crumbled over at the end.

Not vegetarian — contains pecorino whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 12 dried sweet peppers, stalks and seeds removed
• 400 g cavatelli
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 80 g aged pecorino, grated
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Method

1. These are dried SWEET peppers, not chillies. They arrive brittle and papery and should snap.
2. Heat the oil to a shimmer and FRY EACH PEPPER FOR FIVE SECONDS, no more, turning it once and lifting it straight out onto paper. They swell, darken a shade and go glassy.
3. AT TEN SECONDS THEY ARE BLACK AND BITTER AND THE BATCH IS RUINED. This is the only difficult step in the dish and it is difficult only because it is so fast. Do them one or two at a time and watch them, not the clock.
4. Soften the garlic in the same oil over a low heat.
5. Cook the pasta, drain it, and toss it with the garlic oil and the pecorino and a little pasta water.
6. CRUMBLE THE PEPPERS OVER AT THE END, in your fingers. They are a crisp condiment here, not a sauce ingredient — put them in the pan and five seconds of care becomes a soggy pepper.

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