Strascinati con Baccalà e Peperoni cruschi

Strascinati with cod and bran peppers

Duration: 45 min + 30 min

Difficulty: Medium

Region: Basilicata

The strascinati with cod and bran peppers are a typical recipe from Basilicata. In traditional Lucanian gastronomy, cruschi peppers are one of the most used ingredients, we can find them both as an appetizer and as a condiment for homemade pasta or meat or fish main courses, including cod with cruschi peppers. One of the most famous and traditional recipes calls for them with strascinati, a pasta shape typical of a vast area that includes both Puglia and Basilicata, similar to capunti only that they are wider and more open. Their name derives from the way in which they are prepared: by dragging small portions of dough onto the pastry board by gripping three fingers.

Wine Pairing: Matera Bianco DOC

Ingredients

For 4 people:

• 400 g of Strascinati
• 400 g of soaked cod
• 6 Bran peppers
• 1 Chilli
• 1 clove of garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

For the preparation of strascinati:

• 200 gr of durum wheat flour
• 50 g of durum wheat semolina
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Water
• salt

Typical product: Peperoni cruschi

How to Proceed

Prepare a pastry board on which you will arrange the flour and semolina forming the classic fountain.

Pour the hot water in which you have dissolved the salt into the central hollow, gradually so that it can be incorporated into the flour without risking spilling it out. Then, once incorporated, knead more vigorously for about fifteen minutes, the time necessary to obtain a smooth, homogeneous and elastic dough.

Once the right consistency is obtained, form a ball and let the dough rest for 30 minutes, placing it in a bowl and leaving it to rest in a sheltered place. Once the time has elapsed, take the dough again, place it on the pastry board and cut small portions from it. Roll these portions to obtain dough cylinders similar to bread sticks.

With a knife or a pasta cutter, divide the dough “grissini” into portions of about 4 cm in length. Take every single piece and press on it with three fingers, at the same time rub it on the pastry board pulling it towards you.

If you carry out the operation at the same time and with the right pressure, you will get the famous dragging.

Try again several times if it does not come in the first attempts. Then once obtained, if they are still closed (the capunti) you can open them with your hand and get the strascinati. Let them dry on a tea towel or on a tray filled with semolina flour.

Now let’s take care of the preparation of the sauce.

Boil the soaked cod separately in plenty of boiling water. Separately, take the dried bran peppers and remove them from the stem and central part, thus also removing all the seeds inside. In the end you should get only the red part of the pepper so to speak

Take a large pan and add a little olive oil. Bring it to a good temperature and then pour in the chopped bran peppers. Brown them well, then in the same oil then add the cloves of garlic, crushed but still in their skins (you will remove them later, so they give more flavour), and the fresh chilli pepper cut into pieces (if you have any, otherwise dry is fine too ).

Take a pot, fill it with water and bring it to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and then pour the strascinati.

Once cooked, drain and add them to the sautéed pan (you can remove the garlic cloves first) together with the boiled cod and the bran peppers.

Mix and sauté them in the pan for 3-4 minutes so that the strascinati are flavored well. Serve the strascinati with the piping hot cruschi peppers.