Strozzapreti are an ancient Italian pasta in the shape of large one-inch-long torches. Mentioned several times in Roman literature, strozzapreti are obviously born as pasta to be cooked on holidays.
The testimony of the roman poet Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, a very careful observer of the habits of the bourgeoisie and the wealthiest people of the nineteenth century, is precious: it is “dried pasta, one inch long to be seasoned or cooked with sauce”.

Roman-style strozzapreti (literally priest stranglers)

  • Preparation time: 60 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For pasta:
  • 12 oz (400 grams) of all-purpose flour
  • 7 oz (200 grams) of warm water
  • For the dressing:
  • 1 can of peeled tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • Grated pecorino Romano to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Salt to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Put the flour on the pastry board and make a well in the center. Add the warm water. Mix first with a fork and then start kneading with your hands for about ten minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it with cellophane and let it rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Prepare the dressing. In a large pan with oil and the whole onion, cook the peeled tomatoes for about fifteen minutes. At the end, season with salt.
  4. Take the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 3 mm. Cut it into 3 mm strips with a pizza cutter. Place the strip between the palms of your hands and gently rub back and forth to twist the dough into a tube-like shape. Once you have shaped the top of the strip, tear it off and continue rolling the rest of the strip. Strozzapreti is a twisted piece of pasta 8 cm long.
    Place all the strozzapreti on the floured pastry board.
  5. Boil a pot full of water for the pasta. Salt the water with coarse salt and cook the strozzapreti for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain them al dente and put them back in the pan with the sauce; add the grated pecorino. Salt if necessary and serve.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Peeled tomatoes must be of excellent quality. The famous “acidity” is a sign either of the low quality of the product or an error in cooking. In fact, the tomato must be cooked either for a short time (around ten to fifteen minutes maximum) or for very long cooking, such as for ragù.
  • A heavy but delicious sauce suitable for strozzapreti is also that of the oxtail. To see the recipe, go here.
  • To cook pasta in the ideal way, you need to consider 1 liter of water for every 3 oz (100 grams) of pasta.