Strozzapreti 'priest strangler' pasta looks tricky but is pretty simple no egg recipe that goes well with a rich, slow-cooked beef ragu. Plus, you don't need a machine to make it!
I love this kind of cooking on a lazy Sunday while I wait for the ragu to develop in flavour, with a Tarantino movie playing in the background. #cookingtherapy
Ingredients
245g all purpose flour 140g finely ground semolina 1/2 tsp salt warm water
In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients together. Slowly drizzle in the warm water stirring with a fork until it comes together, go slowly as its easier to add water than take it away.
On a lightly floured surface, knead by hand for about 4 to 5 minutes or until your dough is smooth and elastic.
Divide in two and wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes or up to an hour.
Grab one to the balls of dough form the fridge and shape into a flat circle on a lightly floured surface. Roll, then turn the dough 1/4 turn and roll agin, dusting with more flour if needed until the dough is close to 3mm thin. Grab a sharp knife and a ruler (I used the edge of my rolling pin) cut the dough into ~40mm ribbons.
Pick one up and gently stretch with your hands to make them longer and thinner.
Then the fun, shaping part! Place the ribbon of pasta in-between your hands and gently rub them together to create the twisted shape.
Once you have shaped the top of the ribbon (a hand's width) tear it off with your fingers and place on a lightly floured and lined baking sheet. Continue until all the ribbons are done. A good activity while watching Tarantino.
Lightly dust the completed strozzapreti and refrigerate until you need it. It also freezes well too, I just popped them into a freezer bag and no need to thaw.
Cook the strozzapreti in salted boiling water and they're done when they've floated to the top.
