Matt got the inspiration for this dish from the Whole Hog Dinner that the restaurant Oliveto, in Oakland, hosts every year for chefs, food professionals, and friends from all over the world. One year they served pasta with cured pork, pickled peppers, and tomato sauce, which was so good that when we got back to Los Angeles, Matt decided to make his own version. Fiorentini means “Florentine,” but here refers to a twisted short pasta shape made by Setar, an artisanal pasta producer in Napoli. If you can’t find it, use another dried, artisanally produced pasta in its place, such as maccheroni alla chitarra, a big tube-shaped pasta from Napoli. The tubes collapse when they cook so they’re like empty ravioli.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Fill a pasta pot or a large stockpot with 6 quarts of water, add 6 tablespoons of kosher salt, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. If you are not using a pasta pot, place a colander in the sink or have a wire strainer handy to lift the pasta out of the water.
Step 2
Combine the olive oil and guanciale in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and cook until the guanciale is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 1 minute, until the garlic is light golden and fragrant, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning. Add the passata, sugar, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and cook for about 1 minute, to dissolve the sugar and warm the sauce. Turn off the heat and add the basil while you cook the pasta.
Step 3
Drop the pasta into the boiling water, stir to prevent it from sticking together, partially cover the pot so the water returns to a boil quickly and continues boiling, and cook the pasta, using the time indicated on the package as a guide, until it’s al dente. About 1 minute before the pasta is done, place the sauce over high heat. Lift the pasta out of the cooking water, or reserve 1 cup of the water and drain the pasta, and immediately add it to the pan with the sauce. Cook the pasta with the sauce for 2 minutes, stirring with a rubber spatula to stain the pasta with the sauce, adding some of the reserved pasta water if the pasta is dry and sticky instead of slippery and glistening. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and peppers. Add the finishing-quality olive oil, stirring vigorously and shaking the pan to emulsify the sauce.
Step 4
Pile the pasta in the center of each of four plates, dividing it evenly, and spoon any sauce remaining in the pan over the pasta. Use a microplane or another fine grater to grate a light layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano over each plate, and serve.
suggested wine pairing
Step 5
Lamezia Rosso (Calabria)
