Jan 7, 2010

Pasta with Fried Peppers and Bread Crumbs

The secret to making this hearty Basilicatan specialty is to fry the dried peppers to a delicate crisp.

Credit: Landon Nordeman

1⁄4 lb. country bread, cut into 1" cubes
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
8 dried mild chiles, such as peperoni cruschi di Senise,
guajillos, or pasillas, stemmed and seeded
4 anchovies, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb. pasta, such as fusilli or strascinati

1. Heat oven to 325˚. Bake bread cubes until hard, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor; process into coarse crumbs. Heat 1⁄4 cup oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add crumbs; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8–10 minutes. Transfer crumbs to a bowl. Wipe out skillet; heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add chiles and toast, turning once, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a plate; let cool. Tear chiles into 1" pieces. Reserve oil in skillet.

2. Set reserved skillet over medium heat and add anchovies; cook, breaking them apart with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute. Add garlic and tomatoes; cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften and burst, about 10 minutes. Mash tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1⁄4 cup water. Transfer pasta and water to reserved skillet of tomatoes over high heat. Toss to combine; cook until sauce thickens, 1–2 minutes. Transfer pasta to a platter; sprinkle with bread crumbs and chiles; drizzle with a little oil.

SERVES 4

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #120

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Ratings & Reviews (4)

by stephenzr on 2009-06-10

Following the ingredient proportions listed, the sauce does not come out thick enough. It literally needs more tomatoes and oil.
Also, good luck with the peppers. I used guajillos because pasillas are already so dark flavored. It was difficult getting them crisp without blackened - I made two attempts.
The toasted breadcrumbs on the pasta was fantastic though. The recipe is worth it even without the chiles.

by ejm on 2009-06-11

We made this first using guajillos, moritas, plum tomatoes and the 2nd time using an oven-dried red shepherd pepper, amarillos, a beefsteak?? tomato. Because the peppers were quite hard after frying, we tossed them in the sauce with the penne. They still retained some of their crunch. We loved the raisin-like flavour of the peppers. I couldn't help myself from garnishing with a few fresh basil leaves. While it might not be traditional for Basilicata, we thought it was a brilliant addition.

by Richd2405 on 2009-08-26

I tried this recipe with the Senise peppers and it was outstanding. I was able to locate the senise peppers as well as the imported strascinati in DiPalo's in Little Italy, NYC. It all came together and tasted fantastic.

by rnelson on 2012-05-15

very good first time, but second time, just too mild. Made with gaujillos, will try pasillas next time. but maybe no next time.

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