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Home » Italy's Regions » Sicily

Published: Feb 7, 2018 · Modified: Jun 3, 2018 by Jacqui

Spaccatelle pasta from Sicily


Spaccatelle pasta from Sicily.

Spaccatelle pasta

Spaccatelle or spaccatella is a traditional usually dried pasta from Sicily, which is not so widely known in other parts of the Italian peninsula. A fact I find quite strange because apart from being a fantastic pasta to serve either with vegetable based sauces or seafood, it is produced by some of the big pasta makers such as Barilla and De Cecco!

Spaccatelle pasta

This is classified as a short pasta although a longer version does exist. It has a wonderful curved shape, with a split (spaccatura) in the centre, hence the name! I have read that this pasta was also once called margherita, although, nowadays it is more commonly called spaccatelle in Sicily. Sicilians serve it with many typical pasta sauces including the famous ‘alla Norma’.

Spaccatelle pasta with Sicilian sun-dried tomato pesto and burrata
Spaccatelle pasta with Sicilian sun-dried tomato pesto and burrata

Spaccatelle recipes

A delicious sounding recipe that I came across for this pasta and want to make with it is one from Messina called spaccatelle dello stretto. This is a typical Sicilian condiment made with swordfish, pine nuts, garlic, tomato sauce, parsley and wine. ‘Dello stretto’ refers to the straits of Messina, a narrow stretch of sea between Messina and the Italian mainland city of Reggio Calabria where swordfish has been caught since antiquity.

Spaccatelle pasta from Sicily

Another typical Sicilian recipe for spaccatelle pasta is with stockfish (air dried cod similar to baccala). In this recipe, the pasta is cooked in the fish sauce. It sounds delish and has definitely gone down on my to-do list. Practically all the recipes I could find for this pasta are Sicilian and mostly with seafood or vegetables. Spaccatelle is also often served with pesto in Sicily.  There are a number of Sicilian pesto recipes such as pesto Trapanese and pesto with pistachios. The first recipe I posted with this pasta is with another Sicilian pesto, sun-dried tomatoes. Actually, I had actually never made this pesto before. I don’t know why because it’s very good and the spaccatelle went so well with it. I have also served this pasta with homemade tomato sauce and creamed ricotta. It was delicious! Although of course other types of pasta can be used instead! 

Spaccatelle with homemade tomato sauce and creamed ricotta
Spaccatelle with homemade tomato sauce and creamed ricotta

More Sicily

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  • Cavatelli on a tray.
    Cavatelli (Everything You Need to Know)

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Buon giorno and welcome to my pasta project! My name is Jacqui. I’m originally a Londoner but in 2003 life’s journey brought me to the beautiful Veneto region of Italy where…

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