Strozzapreti Romagnoli

Ingredients

• 400 g plain wheat flour
• 180 ml water, lukewarm
• Optional additions (Romagnol variations)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, added to dough for workability
• 60 g spinach, finely chopped, incorporated directly into dough for green strozzapreti
• For pomodorini e rucola (summer pairing)
• 400 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cloves garlic
• 60 g rocket (rucola), wilted in the heat of the finished sauce
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• For cooking
• 20 g coarse salt, for the pasta water; water must be well salted

Method

1. 1
   Mound the flour on the board. Add the lukewarm water gradually, mixing from the centre outward. If using olive oil or finely chopped spinach, incorporate these with the water. Bring the dough together into a rough mass. It is ready to knead when it holds its shape without crumbling.
2. 2
   Knead for 8–10 minutes, pushing the heel of the hand forward and folding the dough back on itself. The dough is done when the surface is smooth, the texture elastic, and it springs back slowly when pressed with a finger. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
3. 3
   Pull off a piece of dough roughly the size of a walnut. Place it on the board or between the palms. Roll it with a back-and-forth motion, moving the hands in opposite directions and applying slight outward pressure. This is where the dish lives or dies: too much pressure produces flat ribbons; too little produces round worms. The correct motion produces an elongated, slightly flattened piece 5–8 cm long with a visible twist along its length — resembling a rolled towel or short rope. The diameter should not exceed 1 cm. Repeat until all the dough is shaped.
4. 4
   For the pomodorini e rucola: warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and pale gold. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook briefly until they collapse and release their juice but retain some body. The sauce is ready when it is loose, bright, and lightly thickened.
5. 5
   Bring a large pot of water to a full rolling boil. Salt well. Add the strozzapreti and cook for 4–6 minutes — eggless pasta requires slightly longer than egg pasta. Taste from 4 minutes onward. The pasta is done when it is tender through but retains a firm, chewy resistance at the centre.
6. 6
   Drain the strozzapreti, reserving a ladleful of cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss over heat, loosening with cooking water as needed. Remove from the heat and add the rocket. Toss once: the residual heat wilts the leaves. The finished dish should show the rocket just collapsed, the sauce clinging to the twisted channels of each piece of pasta.