Strozzapreti
There are so many wonderful legends about
strozzapreti. With a name literally translating
to ‘priest strangler’, you can’t help but wonder
how this pasta came about. Some say that
after a long, hot day working in the elds,
the women would sometimes come home
to nd a priest waiting to be fed, which
was considered partial payment for land
rents. This apparently angered the women
so much that they would picture strangling
the priests as they stued their faces (the
shape is meant to resemble a wrung neck
or a wrung-out towel that was then used to
strangle someone). Another story goes that
apriest found himself so hungry one day after
wandering back and forth through the village
that he ate the pasta with such voracity that
he choked. Apparently, his servant then
shifted into gear and struck him in the throat
with her st until he spat it out. Whichever
tale you prefer, the name seems to reect
widespread opposition to the power that
priests held during these times.
Strozzapreti can be made in a variety
of ways using dierent ours and doughs –
some regions even use bread or potatoes
(if you google strozzapreti you’ll see what
I mean) – but this is how I make it. I nd it
the simplest and most satisfying method,
especially when it’s been a long week. Just
like punching aboxing bag, the ‘strangling’
or rubbing of hands together in a swift
movement does wonders for thesoul.
Equipment: rolling pin, ruler
Level: medium
78
Make your desired quantity of semolina
dough following the recipe on page 42.
• This is the only semolina dough shape
that actually requires rolling. Much like
an egg dough, you want to roll out your
dough using a rolling pin until it is about
2mm thick. I prefer to roll out the dough in
batches to stop it drying out while I make
my strozzapreti. In which case, cut your
dough into thirds.
• Cut the rolled dough into 1 cm-wide strips.
Leave the strips to ‘cure’ for 5 minutes.
• Hold up a strip of dough and pinch the top.
Using an index nger and thumb, place
the pinched top on the palm of your other
hand. In one swift movement, run your hand
forward over the pasta all the way to your
pinky, which will roll or ‘strangle’ the pasta
strip. Pinch the rolled pasta o (it should be
roughly 6–7 cm long) and repeat the action
with the remaining length of pasta hanging
in your hands.
One strip of pasta should make around
four or ve lengths of strozzapreti.
• Repeat.