How to make homemade strangozzi pasta from Umbria
Originally a poor man’s recipe, strangozzi pasta from Umbria is an easy to make traditional flour and water pasta. It's delicious with well-known Umbrian dishes such as pasta alla Norcina, pasta with black truffles and Umbrian pesto.
Servings: 4
Calories: 271kcal
Equipment
- 1 large bowl to start dough (optional)
- 1 Rolling Pin or pasta machine
- 1 sharp knife to cut pasta ribbons
- 1 pastry board or wood/marble work top.
Ingredients
- 10.5 ounces soft wheat flour Italian '00' flour or all purpose flour.
- 4-5 fluid ounces water warm or room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil. optional
Instructions
Make the dough
- Mound the flour on a clean wooden board or in a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the salt, olive oil (if using), and pour the water into the center a little at a time.
- Using your hands or a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid. Once it begins to come together, use your hands to knead it. If starting in a bowl, turn the pasta dough out on to a flour dusted worktop once the dough can be formed into a ball.
- Knead vigorously for 8-10 minutes until you get a smooth, firm, and elastic dough. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Roll and cut
- Roll out one third of the dough using a rolling pin on a floured surface until it is roughly 2 to 3 mm thick (about 1/16 inch), about twice the thickness of tagliatelle. I use semolina flour for any dusting. You can also use a pasta machine to roll out the pasta sheets.
- Lightly dust the top of the sheet with soft wheat flour (or fine semolina flour) to prevent sticking and cut it into a rectangle that’s about 30 cms (11-12”) in length.
- Roll the dough up on itself. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the roll into thick ribbons about ⅜ inch (roughly 4 to 5 mm) wide.
- Unroll the ribbons carefully with your fingers so they loosen into long ‘flat’ spaghetti.Place the ready strangozzi on a flour dusted tray until you are ready to cook. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Notes
You can use your homemade strangozzi in Umbrian recipes like sausage pasta alla Norcina, pancetta pasta col rancetto or in recipes with the region’s well-known legumes such as beans or lentils, including my strangozzi with lentils and sausage (to be published soon).
Instead of 300g soft wheat flour, you can make strangozzi with 200g (7ozs) soft wheat flour and 100g (3.5 ozs) hard wheat semolina flour.
You may not need to use all the water. Add a little at a time to prevent the pasta dough getting too wet.
Keep the remaining dough wrapped in plastic wrap while you make the first two batches of strangozzi. This will prevent it from drying out.
Nutrition
Calories: 271kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.2g | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 3mg