Natural Burn Killer
Are you one of those cooks who tends to get distracted doing 300 things at once, and ends up burning some of your meals? If so, this dish is for you – here you intentionally burn your pasta (to a certain degree). You heard that right, my friend. Spaghetti all’Assassina, or killer pasta, has you covered.
No need to go all Emperor Nero about it and spark fires to your house, but indeed you want to burn to impress. This is a simple dish of pasta, cooked in a spicy hot tomato sauce until it’s soft yet crispy and lightly charred. Originally from Bari, Puglia, the recipe entered the international spotlight first with Masterchef (2018), and especially when Stanley Tucci featured it in his “Searching for Italy” show in 2022.
I know I said it’s a “simple” affair just above. Truth be told, it’s not that simple – both the recipe and the story behind it are a saucy tangle.
The origins saga is a fiery mix of myths, ingenuity, and improvisation, like in the best traditions. A few believe it was invented at the Marc’Aurelio restaurant, while most agree it happened at the Trattoria Al Sorso Preferito. Some believe that the recipe was found on a piece of paper taped to the walls of a rotisserie, during some renovation works. But the vulgata credits chef Enzo Francavilla, from Al Sorso Preferito, with its invention. It was 1967, and he had only just taken over that business. Two customers (from Naples? From Northern Italy? Different versions also on this geographical detail) walked in, asking for something earthy and savoury. Enzo made the most of what he had at hand, sloshing the spaghetti (or was it vermicelli?) in his iron pan, the sartàscene. The verdict? These were killer spaghetti – they burnt so much they could kill you, but so so good that they were to die for. Their popularity grew exponentially locally, with many celebrities from the theatre and cinema industry lining up to try this dish day and night.
After an initial phase of success, they lost momentum in the 80s, until they were almost forgotten.
The renaissance happened in 2013, when a group of nostalgic gluttons, armed with an evaluation sheet, decided to found the Assassina Academy, where they vowed to map out those restaurants in town that could still make a “proper” dish of spicy burnt pasta. From that moment, Spaghetti all’Assassina entered popular culture, thanks to TV series and books that featured them. Since then, many different variations and interpretations have spread. But what does “proper” even mean? Some, such as journalist and gastronome Sandro Romano, claim the Academy has the recipe all wrong…
Looking at the ingredient list, you have a handful of basic staples of any Italian pantry: spaghetti, tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, hot red pepper, salt. But what tomatoes? Some call for preserved tomatoes, others for tomato sauce. And what peperoncino? Fresh hot pepper, powdered, or crushed? And then the technique: should you use an iron pan, or any will do? Some say you should pre-cook your spaghetti, others prefer to place the pasta raw in the sauce, and cook it as if it were a risotto. Some claim it resembles the leftover pasta that locals fry up the next day, an ingenious way to avoid wasting, others point out how this is usually only done with a meat-based sauce, which is prepared for the Sunday lunch…
All I know is that it does take a while to master the whole caboodle and get the perfect caramelized texture, browned but not burnt (hence not too bitter), crispy but not crunchy, creamy but not soupy, and very, very spicy, killer-level delicious, but not full-on lethal.
With a fork in hand and another pan sacrificed to the pasta gods, Luisa can help you plot your next escape to Puglia, seasoned with spicy culinary adventures, a dash of flair, and just the right amount of sizzle.
