Pasta con la mollica (Pasta with Breadcrumbs)

All over southern Italy, breadcrumbs were considered the “poor man’s cheese”. Those who couldn’t afford the luxury of the usual grated pecorino—or to throw away stale bread—would sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs over pasta and other dishes. Cucina povera in the literal sense. And yet, as it so often turns out, necessity gave birth to something we can enjoy today, even those of us who don’t need to economize quite that much. Toasted breadcrumbs lend nutty flavor and crunchy texture to dishes, just as appealing in their own way as the finest cheese. Pasta with breadcrumbs, or pasta con la mollica, is a specialty of Puglia, Calabria and perhaps most famously, Sicily, where they call it pasta ca’ muddicca. Spaghetti is the most common choice for the pasta, but in parts of Puglia they prefer mafaldine, a ribbon-shaped pasta with ruffled edges. Pasta con la mollica is a favorite there for festa di san Giuseppe, or St. Joseph’s Day, on March 19, which is Father’s Day in Italy. As you may remember, Joseph was a carpenter, and they say breadcrumbs resemble the saw dust you’d find in a carpenter’s shop. Hence you’ll sometime see this dish called pasta di san Giuseppe or St. Joseph’s pasta. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) spaghetti, mafaldine or another long pasta 3-4 garlic cloves, finely minced A pinch (or two) red pepper flakes, or more to taste 4-5 anchovy fillets, or more to taste A few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely minced 100-150g (4 oz) breadcrumbs Olive oil Salt Directions In a large sauté pan or skillet, sauté the garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies in abundant olive oil over gentle heat, until the garlic barely begins to brown. Turn off the heat and add the minced parsley. In a separate skillet, sauté the breadcrumbs in enough olive oil to moisten them, again over gentle heat, until the breadcrumbs have lightly toasted. (Take care not to let them burn, they cook quickly once the pan is hot.) Turn off the heat. Season with a pinch of salt if you like. Boil the pasta in well salted water. When the pasta is al dente, drain and transfer it to the pan with the garlic and anchovy sauce, mixing it well over low heat. When the pasta is well coated and any water clinging to it has evaporated, add about half the toasted breadcrumbs and mix well. Serve the pasta right away, topped with the remaining breadcrumbs. Notes on Pasta con la mollica As mentioned, you can make this dish with spaghetti or indeed any long pasta. I do agree that mafaldine are a particularly nice choice. Those little ruffles grab the breadcrumb dressing quite nicely. It’s not the easiest pasta shape to find, but mafaldine are sold in Italian food shops or, of course, online. There’s a tragic backstory to this pasta shape, named after an Italian princess who married a German prince and wound up dying at Buchenwald. You can read about it here. Many if not most recipes for pasta con la mollica call for mixing all the breadcrumbs into the pasta. But I like to hold back half and using it as a topping. This way, each diner can mix into the pasta themselves (or not). The breadcrumb topping gives the dish visual appeal, and it keeps the breadcrumbs nice and crispy. The parsley is optional, but I rather like the flavor and of color that it lends to the dish. Some recipes calls for a bit of tomato pasta mixed into the sauce. In some recipes, a bit of grated caciocavallo cheese gets sprinkled on top along with the breadcrumbs. (No longer a poor man’s dish, I guess.) In a few recipes, the anchovies are added directly to the breadcrumbs rather than to the garlic and oil sauce. The anchovies are mostly only to add a bit of umami, if you don’t care for anchovies, you can omit them. On other other hand, if you really like them, there’s nothing wrong with going to town. If you do, you can call your dish pasta con acciughe e mollica, or Pasta with Anchovies and Breadcrumbs. According to some sources, the anchovies were originally fresh sardines, a nice sounding choice if you have access to them.   Print Yum Pasta con la mollica (Pasta with Breadcrumbs) Ingredients500g (1 lb) spaghetti, mafaldine or another long pasta 3-4 garlic cloves, finely minced A pinch (or two) red pepper flakes, or more to taste 4-5 anchovy fillets, or more to taste A few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely minced 100-150g (4 oz) breadcrumbs Olive oil SaltDirectionsIn a large sauté pan or skillet, sauté the garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies in abundant olive oil over gentle heat, until the garlic barely begins to brown. Turn off the heat and add the minced parsley. In a separate skillet, sauté the breadcrumbs in enough olive oil to moisten them, again over gentle heat, until the breadcrumbs have lightly toasted. (Take care not to let them burn, they cook quickly once the pan is hot.) Turn off the heat. Season with a pinch of salt if you like.  Boil the pasta in well salted water. When the pasta is al dente, drain and transfer it to the pan with the garlic and anchovy sauce, mixing it well over low heat. When the pasta is well coated and any water clinging to it has evaporated, add about half the toasted breadcrumbs and mix well. Serve the pasta right away, topped with the remaining breadcrumbs.Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes0.1https://memoriediangelina.com/2019/03/16/pasta-con-la-mollica-pasta-with-breadcrumbs/(c) Frank Fariello Enter your email address below and you'll receive new posts in your inbox as soon as they're published, at absolutely no charge. You'll never miss another recipe! 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