Recipes
Chitarra spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, Mediterranean shrimp, basil and crunchy "guanciale"
4/5 portions
For the fresh pasta:
300 gr. of '00' flour, 3 whole eggs, 2 gr. of saffron, 1 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil and salt
For the sauce:
60 gr. of peeled Gobbetti (small red Mediterranean shrimps), 100 gr. of bisque stock (made with peel and shrimps head), 8 leaves of fresh basil, 8 slices of smoked "guanciale" (similar to bacon but made from the pork checks) dried in oven or salamander until it becomes gold, brown and very crunchy, 130 gr. of peeled and seedless, chopped ripe vine tomatoes, 1 gr. of good quality saffron powder, 2 spring onions thinly chopped.
How to prepare:
In a large metal bowl combine the flour, salt, olive oil, place in the middle the eggs and begin to mix the ingredients until you will get a smooth and a bit hard dough.
Let the dough rest of at least 1 hour.
Cut the pasta in small disks and using a pin-roll make a flat sheet of 1 cm.
Using the pin-roll and a traditional chitarra (a special guitar made for cutting pasta from Abruzzi region), make big and square fresh pasta long spaghetti, fold them into little nest of about 80 gr. each.
In a large pan of boiling and salted water cook the "pasta alla chitarra" for about 6/8 minutes
On the side, in an heavy sauce pan, cook the spring onions with a drop of olive oil until it withers, add the fresh diced tomato and cook for few minutes on a medium heat.
With a long fork stir mix constantly in order to break the tomatoes and obtain a creamy tomato sauce.
Add the cooked pasta with some of the cooking water keeping in mind that, this operation will add some salt to the recipe.
To finish the dish add the shrimps, the saffron powder, the chopped basil and the rest of the olive oil.
Cook for few seconds in order to reduce the sauce onto the pasta. Serve very hot in a bowl plate and garnish with the dried "guanciale".