Fusilli al ferretto are so-called because the pasta is wrapped around a thin metal rod that's around 12 inches/30 centimeters in length, giving it a distinct shape that differs from the typical spiral that characterizes fusilli. Though the same fusilli al ferretto embellishes tabletops all around southern Italy, especially in Calabria and southern Campania, this preparation with cruschi peppers is most typical of Basilicata, a region of southern Italy nestled between Campania, Calabria, and Puglia that touches the coasts of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas.
The recipe is below. If you don't want to make the pasta from scratch and you can't find this freshly made, just substitute standard fusilli. And as for the specific ferretto? Any thin wooden or metal rod will do. Also, you can find cruschi peppers, a dried-out sweet variety from Basiciliata, from different gourmet specialty shops and importers, as well as on Amazon.
Fusilli al Ferretto With Crunchy Peppers
Photo: Riccardo Lettieri, Styling: Beatrice Prada
Recipe: Joëlle Néderlants
Skill Level: Easy
Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients for 5
12 oz./320 g. fresh fusilli al feretto
5 oz./150 g. cacioricotta cheese
6-8. cruschi peppers, chopped
3 slices of bread without crust
2 cloves of garlic
parsley
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Cook the fusilli in plenty of boiling salted water.
Blend the bread and brown it in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil, flavored with 1 whole clove of garlic, which you will then remove.
Chop a handful of parsley with the other clove of garlic and brown it in a large pan with 4 Tbsp.
oil. Add half of the chopped cruschi peppers and the drained fusilli, and cook for a couple of minutes.
Turn off the heat, add the grated cacioricotta, the bread crumbs, and the remaining chopped cruschi peppers.
Good to know
To prepare the fusilli al ferretto, mix 1½ cups/200 g. durum wheat flour with ½ cup/ 120 g. of water and a pinch of salt, and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then work a little dough at a time, dividing it into thin loaves around 3″/7-8 cm long; roll them up on the underwire in the shape of a fusillo. Let the pasta dry for 1 hour. Cook them in salted boiling water until they float to the surface.