Campania — Amalfi Coast, Salerno province
Amalfi Coast's signature pasta format — wide, short, irregular-edged fresh pasta made with flour, eggs, and fresh basil, tossed with a seafood stew of clams, mussels, shrimp, and squid in white wine, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and parsley. Scialatielli were invented in Amalfi in 1978 by chef Enrico Cosentino — a genuinely modern dish now embedded in the regional canon. The basil in the pasta dough, combined with the seafood broth, produces a flavour combination unique to this coastline.
Sea-fresh clam-mussel brine, white wine acidity, basil-infused pasta, cherry tomato sweetness — the Amalfi Coast distilled into a single bowl
{"Fresh basil must be blended directly into the pasta dough (not added as a garnish) — the basil oxidises and darkens in the dough but its flavour permeates every strand","Pasta format: 8–10cm long, 5mm wide, with irregular torn edges rather than knife-cut clean edges — the surface texture is what makes scialatielli unique in absorbing seafood broth","Seafood sequencing: clams and mussels first (1 minute in wine to open), then shrimp (1 minute), then squid last (30 seconds) — each cooks at a different speed","Keep the clam and mussel juices — this is the sauce; discard nothing from the seafood opening","Finish pasta in the seafood pan with a splash of pasta water — final 2 minutes allows the pasta to absorb the broth"}
{"Dry white Amalfi wine (Furore Bianco or Falanghina) both in the sauce and served alongside — the wine's mineral, citrus character is specifically calibrated for this dish","Add a strip of lemon zest to the seafood while it steams in wine — resonates with the lemon trees that define the Amalfi landscape","The basil in the dough oxidises to grey over time — make and cook on the same day for the best flavour and presentation","Serve in the pan at the table — scialatielli cools rapidly and suffers in transfer to cold plates"}
{"Adding all seafood simultaneously — clams and mussels require 4× the cooking time of squid; uniform addition produces rubbery squid","Discarding the seafood juices — the briny, concentrated liquid is the entire sauce","Uniformly smooth, cut pasta instead of torn-edged — the texture change is fundamental","Over-reducing the tomato — cherry tomatoes must retain their fresh character; 3 minutes maximum after opening the shellfish"}
La Cucina della Costiera Amalfitana — Vittoria Brancaccio (Longobardi Editore)