Pasta alla Norcina: the traditional recipe
Pasta alla Norcina: the traditional recipe
Equipment
- Pan
- Pot
Ingredients
- 350 gr pasta
- 300 gr sausage
- 200 gr fresh ricotta
- 1/2 onion
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- white wine to taste
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- parmesan to taste
Instructions
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil with onion in a large pan.
- Peel and crumble the sausage.
- Place it in the pan and let it brown for a few minutes.
- Deglaze with white wine.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water.
- Add the ricotta along with a little boiling water.
- Mix and season with salt and pepper.
- Drain the pasta al dente and toss with the sausage sauce for at least 1 minute (add a sprinkling of black truffle if desired).
- Serve and garnish with Parmesan.
Pasta alla norcina is an ancient, very popular Umbrian recipe: like all traditional Italian recipes, it requires few, simple ingredients which are typical of the region.
For this pasta you will need the distinctive sausages processed in Norcia.
“Norcini” was the name used for the butchers who lived in Norcia and its surroundings and were specialized in slaughtering pigs and then processing their meat.
This dish is characterized by the Norcia sausage. It is prepared with the leanest and finest pork cuts (shoulder and leg) then flavored with salt, garlic and pepper. Its intense, special taste gives this pasta a typical flavor.
Norcia sausages can easily be found almost anywhere in Italy; however, lean, fine-grained sausages will do if you are out of luck and cannot find the original ones at your butcher’s.
Remember that fresh, good quality sausages need to fulfil the following requirements:
color of the meat: deep pink
color of the fat: pure white
texture: compact and elastic
What kind of sauce should you be using? Ricotta and extra virgin olive oil only.
No cream is envisaged in the original recipe of pasta alla norcina. Just ricotta and extra virgin olive oil will provide the rustic and inviting taste that would be lost with cooking cream.
The original pasta norcina is seasoned with ricotta from sheep’s milk, characterized by an intense flavor and strong vegetal notes. If you prefer a more delicate taste, you can use cow’s milk ricotta. It is just as good but lighter in flavor.
We selected Il Casolare Fruttato Intenso extra virgin olive oil to stir-fry the sausage and onion for the sauce. It is an unfiltered oil obtained from Italian olives whose intense aroma and distinctly fruity flavor remain unchanged over time. This highly structured oil is perfect to accompany the intense flavor of the sausage.
One final suggestion before we give you the actual recipe: if you like truffles and want your pasta to be even tastier, during the final creaming you can add a few shavings of Black Truffle, from Norcia, of course!
