If there's ONE pasta dish I couldn't do without and that I find very, very addictive that's the crudaiola.
For me it's THE summer pasta and on top of all it represents the full, intense flavours of Puglia - the region where I grew up - at their very best.
It's the simplest thing to make, really. Well, if you can find ricotta salata, that is.
A few days ago I finished the last piece I brought with me from a recent trip to Bari and I'm still inconsolable. I just LOVE the cheese. I love it. No, better: I ADORE it. Period.
ADDED 23-8-2012: now I can find it here in Amsterdam too and I'm SO H A P P Y ! :)
It's a dry, salted ricotta cheese that can be grated over your pasta or used for all sorts of other recipes. It's usually made (with slightly different results, more or less salty, harder or softer) in several southern Italian regions, particularly in Sicily and Puglia, basically in those areas where sheep are kept since it's made with sheep's milk.
In Bari it's called ricotta marzotica and its name comes from the period of the year it's being made, around March-April ("marzo" in Italian means March) when there's an abundant production of milk, but since it's a ripened cheese you can luckily buy it all year long.
The crudaiola is my absolutely favourite summer pasta because it smells and tastes like summer: fresh, ripe and juicy tomatoes, sweet and intense basil and good raw extra vergine olive oil.
Crudaiola comes from crudo, raw, to indicate that most ingredients are raw.
That's why it's so easy to make.
Just chop some good tomatoes (I used small, sweet Cupido ones), shred some basil, grate the ricotta, drizzle with good olive oil and season with salt (go easy on it since the ricotta is already quite salty) and pepper. That's it. Some people add a hint of garlic but I think it's perfect just like this, no need to add any other flavours.
I usually exaggerate with the quantity of ricotta I use but by now you should know why.
Like for the previous recipe, crudaiola is usually made with short pasta.
Just don't ask me why and enjoy.
Pasta alla crudaiola
Serves 2
200 gr. short pasta (penne, tortiglioni etc)
250 gr. ripe tomatoes
a piece of ricotta marzotica or any other salted ricotta, at least 150 gr.
a little bunch of basil
good extra vergine olive oil
salt and black pepper
Cook the pasta very al dente in boiling salted water while preparing the other ingredients as indicated above and drain.
Mix chopped tomatoes, basil and grated cheese with a good drizzle of olive oil, season with salt and pepper if you like, add the hot pasta, toss and serve.
This is the kind of dish that is perfect to eat on a lazy summer night on the back patio. Thanks for the recipe!
Posted by: Karen | July 23, 2009 at 04:08 PM
It's absolutely one of the laziest - and yummiest - recipes I know, Karen. Thanks for the thanks and for your comment! :)
Posted by: Nicoletta | July 23, 2009 at 06:31 PM
Loved all your recipes, Italian is by far my favorite cuisine. Love the fresh approach, specially now that we finally have a good sunny weather in NY.
Posted by: Anna | July 24, 2009 at 03:28 PM
This sounds like my kind of dish--quick, easy and tasty! I've always been intrigued by Puglian cooking--my grandfather was from Puglia but he married a gal (my grandmother...) from Campania, so my knowledge of cucina pugliese is limited to orecchiette con broccoletti and a few other dishes. Glad I found your site!
Posted by: Frank Fariello | July 24, 2009 at 09:27 PM
@Anna: thank you for the feedback and enjoy beautiful NY! I'd love to come back soon. :)
@Frank: thank to you too, I appreciate your site a lot too!!! And I'll be glad to share some more of my Apulian recipes with you. :)
Posted by: Nicoletta | July 26, 2009 at 02:02 AM
Hello Nicoletta. Here is an italian living since quite a lot in Amsterdam, the Netherlands :)
I am from Bologna thus my family sets its origins from Puglia, I really love this recipe and actually I am cooking it right now !!!!
Even is It is really problematic to find the ricotta salata here cause, unfortunately, dutch people dont have any taste for food at all and the supermarket are full of food that never saw the sun not even once :(
Luckily there are some specialized italian shops where you can find these products at a rather expensive price.
We are italians and we absolutely need it, so you open a bit more your money bag and dream of a nice plate of pasta crudarola :P
Posted by: FRANCESCO | March 28, 2011 at 09:03 PM
Ciao Francesco, nice to read you! :)
The ricotta salata is now available in Amsterdam at the wholesalers (groothandels) and so, I guess, also in good Italian shops as you said. Otherwise I'll be glad to get you half a big ricotta, vacuumed, from the Kweker and sell it to you for the buying price! :)
Posted by: Nicoletta | April 02, 2011 at 12:26 PM
P.S.: Check out my Italian-English blog too, http://cimedirapa.wordpress.com/! :)
Posted by: Nicoletta | April 02, 2011 at 12:27 PM