I always considered fusilli a funny shape and now that my daughter is a big fan, I cook them every week. This new relationship I have with fusilli has opened new possibilities

Only now I realize that not only fusilli are funny and easy to eat (that’s why kids love them) but they’re amongst the best pasta shapes to collect brilliantly your sauce, and that’s a very big plus when you are a pasta lover like I am.

For this recipe, I paired the beautiful fusilli from Rustichella d’Abruzzo with a cavolo nero (Italian Cabbage similar to curly kale) pesto, definitely a more grown up variation to the famous basil pesto, and also a good way to get your daily quota of vegetables in. This hearty pesto is topped with a smoked ricotta sauce that gives a brilliant depth to the dish and plays well with the grassy notes of the cavolo nero and toasted almonds for the crunch and optional chili too.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients

400 g of Fusilli  ‘Rustichella d’Abruzzo’

150 ml of cream

150 gr of smoked ricotta (works with other smoked cheeses too)

Dried chili to garnish

Chopped almonds to garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

For the pesto

200 gr of cavolo nero

50 ml of extra virgin olive oil

40 gr of grated Grana Padano cheese

15 gr of almonds

1 garlic clove

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Start by preparing the pesto and remember any leftover can be kept for up to 3/4 days in the fridge well covered.

Trim the cavolo nero and remove the woody stalks. You only need the leaves and the tender parts of the stem. Rinse well and cook in salted boiling water for about 2/3 minutes until soft. Cool immediately in iced water to retain the color then drain well but do not over-squeeze.

To prepare the pesto blend the cooked leaves with the oil and all the other ingredients using a processor or blender until you have a grainy paste. If necessary, add a little of the cooking water to make it smoother. Check the seasoning and place it aside.

Now prepare the smoked ricotta sauce.

Gently heat the cream until just reaching the boiling point. Now crumble the ricotta into it, turn off the stove and mix to let the remaining heat melt the cheese gently. If necessary, you can of course blend the sauce until smooth. Check the seasoning and keep warm.

Drop the Fusilli in salted boiling water and cook until al dente following the packet instructions. When ready, drain the pasta but retain some of the cooking water.

Now in a bowl away from the heat toss the pasta with the cavolo nero pesto, add a splash of pasta water to losing it up and mix well until the fusilli are creamy and well coated with the pesto. Season to taste and plate in shallow bowls. You have to do this step away from the stove as the pesto is meant to stay fresh and vibrant in color and the excessive heat will prevent that.

Top the fusilli with drizzles of warm smoked ricotta sauce, a touch of dried chili (flakes or powdered) and toasted chopped almonds and enjoy straight away.

Recipe by Danilo Cortellini

Ingredients (Serves: 4)

400g of Spaghetti Rustichella d’Abruzzo, 2 whole eggs, 4 egg yolks, 50g grated pecorino cheese, 90g grated Grana Padano riserva cheese, 400g of guanciale (or pancetta), salt and black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Remove the rind from the guanciale, slice in ½ cm thick slices, and chop into thick strips. Gently fry the guanciale in a pan on low heat. This will slowly render the fat and the guanciale will crisp up to golden perfection. When done in about 10/15 minutes, drain the guanciale from the fat and pat dry on kitchen paper. Dispose correctly 3 quarters of the fat left in the pan and keep the rest to dress the pasta.

To create the sabayon, whisk the yolks, the whole eggs, and the grated cheeses in a large bowl. Now place the bowl on a bain-marie and cook gently while whisking to reach a thick custard-like consistency. It should take about 2/3 minutes. Never allow the water to reach the boiling point or it will scramble the eggs. It is not essential, but if you have a kitchen thermometer it will help you during this step as the sabayon will be ready when reached a temperature of about 62 degrees Celsius. 

Drop the Spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook until ‘al dente’ for about 9 minutes. Mix every now and then. Drain the pasta and make sure to save a mug of the cooking water. Place the pasta into the pan with the remaining fat and mix well. Away from the heat add the sabayon to the pasta and after that add a splash of pasta water to losing it up and reach a creamy sauce consistency. Stir and toss the pasta in the sauce to make sure it is well coated. Add the crispy guanciale and abundant freshly ground black pepper. Plate in large pasta bowls and top with extra grated cheese!

Recipe by Danilo Cortellini

Ingredients for 4 people:
400 g of Rustichella d'Abruzzo conchiglioni
500 g of champion mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
150 g of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Rustichella d'Abruzzo extra virgin olive oil to taste
100 g of pine nuts
Basil leaves
salt q.b.

Preparation:
Wash and finely chop the champion mushrooms. In a pan, brown the garlic in the oil, add the mushrooms and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the pine nuts. Meanwhile, prepare the conchiglioni in boiling salted water and drain when al dente. Add the sauce and whisk in the pan for a few minutes, adding the grated Parmesan cheese into flakes. Serve and decorate with some fresco basil leaves.

Ingredients for 4 people:
250 g of orecchiette from the Rustichella d'Abruzzo priest
100 g of broccoli
70 g of bacon
1 clove of garlic
chili pepper
Rustichella d'Abruzzo extra virgin olive oil
salt

Preparation:
Cut the bacon into strips. In a pan, put a little extra virgin olive oil, the garlic cut into two parts, and the chili pepper into small pieces, and brown the bacon well. Wash the broccoli and cut it into small pieces. Then add them to the pan, cover, and cook for 10/12 minutes, adding a drizzle of hot water if necessary until soft. Meanwhile, cook the orecchiette in abundant salted water, drain and pour into a pan with the sauce. Sauté them well and after 1 minute turn off the heat and serve. Season everything by adding a drizzle of raw oil.

Ingredients for 4 people:
250 g of medium Sardinian fregola
400 g of peeled tomatoes
6dl of vegetable broth
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion
1 sprig of basil
1 bunch of parsley
1/2 glass of extra virgin olive oil
salt

Preparation:
In a pan, open a sauce by browning chopped garlic, onion, parsley in oil and add the tomatoes after having peeled and cleaned the seeds. Add the salt, cover, and cook for about half an hour. Add the fregola pouring it rain and add a little at a time the previously prepared vegetable broth, dosing it and stirring frequently, then cook for about 10-12 minutes, until the water is consumed and absorbed by the fregola. When cooked, serve and add the fresh basil leaves.

Ingredients for 4 people:
400 g of Rusitchella d'Abruzzo spaghetti
200 g of bacon
120 g of pecorino
4 yolks
black pepper to taste
salt

Preparation:
Cut the bacon into strips, pour it into a pan and brown it. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with plenty of pecorinos to obtain a very thick creamy consistency. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water, drain and pour into the pan with the bacon. Stir quickly, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and add the spaghetti to the cream of egg yolks and pecorino. If necessary, pour in very little water from cooking the pasta to make the cream more fluid. Remove from the gas, serve and complete with a generous sprinkling of pecorino.

Ingredients for 4 people:
350 g of Rustichella d'Abruzzo Capellini
270 g of Puttanesca Rustichella d'Abruzzo
100 g of pitted black olives
Fresh chilli to taste
salt

Preparation:
In a saucepan, heat the ready sauce and add the olives cut in half. Meanwhile, boil the Capellini in boiling salted water, drain when al dente. Then pass them in the sauce and mix over medium heat for 1 minute. If you like, add some chili pepper in pieces.

Ingredients for 4 people:
320 g of Rustichella d'Abruzzo paccheri
200 g of swordfish
200 g of flour type 00
Tomato puree Abruzzo pear Primograno Rustichella d'Abruzzo
2 eggplants
1 onion
1 \ 2 glass of white wine
4 tablespoons of Rustichella d'Abruzzo extra virgin olive oil
5 basil leaves
Salt to taste.

Preparation:
Clean and cut the aubergines into cubes, sprinkle them with salt, and put them to the drain. Fry them in plenty of hot oil and place them on absorbent paper. Meanwhile, in a pan, put a drizzle of oil and the finely chopped onion, let it brown. Then add the swordfish, which you have previously washed and cut into cubes. Brown and blend with white wine and lastly add the tomato sauce, a pinch of salt. Cook the paccheri in boiling salted water, drain when al dente and transfer them to the pan with the sauce. Add the diced aubergines and sauté for a few minutes. Serve the paccheri garnishing with basil leaves.

Ingredients for 4 people:
320 g of Linguine with squid ink Rustichella d'Abruzzo
400 g of shrimp tails
1 glass of brandy
parsley
extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste.

Preparation:
Clean the prawns by removing the central black thread. Cut them into pieces and put them to cook in a pan with oil. Halfway through cooking, add a glass of brandy and let it evaporate. Just add salt. Meanwhile, throw the pasta into boiling salted water, drain it al dente and then put it in a pan with the sauce. Sauté for a few minutes over low heat and serve, decorating with a few parsley leaves.