Orecchiette, which means "little ears" in Italian, is a traditional pasta shape that has its roots in the southern regions of Italy, particularly in Puglia. The history of orecchiette pasta dates back several centuries, and it is closely tied to the culinary traditions of the Italian people. Orecchiette is strongly associated with the region of Puglia, located in the southeastern part of Italy. Puglia's capital, Bari, is often considered the birthplace of orecchiette. The origins of orecchiette can be traced back to the medieval period. The pasta shape is thought to have been created by local housewives who used simple ingredients like durum wheat semolina and water to make their pasta.
Ingredients
Frying orecchiette, like other types of pasta, likely emerged as a practice in response to the desire to transform and repurpose leftover or cooked pasta in a flavorful way. Frying pasta brings interesting texture and bit of the crunch in to the dish.
Directions
- Pre-cook your orecchiette well ahead of time.
- Cook your pasta al-dente.
- Drizzle with oil and mix before setting aside.
- Make sure your pasta is at room temperature.
- Rest it at least 1 hour for the best results.
- Sauté salsiccia, once golden add onions.
- Sweat onions for a while then add spinach.
- If frozen lower temp and defrost it slowly, deglazing pan.
- If fresh cover pan and sweat until wilted, deglazing pan.
- Lastly add garlic, chili and heat through until aromatic.
- Remove from pat in to separate bowl and set aside.
- Add oil and set pan over medium – high heat.
- Incorporate pasta and fry for about 5 minutes.
- Make sure pasta don’t stick and browns well from all sides.
- Once you are happy with pasta return back salsiccia mixture.
- Add tomato sauce and chicken stock and mix well.
- Lastly add parmigiano reggiano, pepper and again incorporate in to sauce.
- Make sure sauce is nicely thickened and coats your pasta, add salt as needed.
- Serve immediately, garnish with parmigiano reggiano shavings.
This recipe is inspired by below video:
Ingredients
Directions
- Pre-cook your orecchiette well ahead of time.
- Cook your pasta al-dente.
- Drizzle with oil and mix before setting aside.
- Make sure your pasta is at room temperature.
- Rest it at least 1 hour for the best results.
- Sauté salsiccia, once golden add onions.
- Sweat onions for a while then add spinach.
- If frozen lower temp and defrost it slowly, deglazing pan.
- If fresh cover pan and sweat until wilted, deglazing pan.
- Lastly add garlic, chili and heat through until aromatic.
- Remove from pat in to separate bowl and set aside.
- Add oil and set pan over medium – high heat.
- Incorporate pasta and fry for about 5 minutes.
- Make sure pasta don’t stick and browns well from all sides.
- Once you are happy with pasta return back salsiccia mixture.
- Add tomato sauce and chicken stock and mix well.
- Lastly add parmigiano reggiano, pepper and again incorporate in to sauce.
- Make sure sauce is nicely thickened and coats your pasta, add salt as needed.
- Serve immediately, garnish with parmigiano reggiano shavings.