Instructions
Knead the semola with about 200 ml warm water and a pinch of salt; rest 20 minutes. Roll ropes, cut 3 cm pieces, and drag each with three fingers into a long hollow curl. Dry on semolina.
50 minWipe the cruschi, remove stems and seeds, and have them whole by the stove with a slotted spoon and a paper-lined plate.
6 minHeat the oil with the garlic until fragrant; remove the garlic. Fry the cruschi in two batches for 15 to 20 seconds only, until they puff and darken half a shade. Lift out instantly.
4 minToast the breadcrumbs in the same perfumed oil until deep gold; pull the pan off the heat.
3 minBoil the strascinati in well-salted water until tender with bite, 4 to 6 minutes.
6 minToss the pasta in the pan with the crumbs and a splash of pasta water. Crumble in two thirds of the cruschi, toss twice, and plate.
2 minCrown with the remaining peppers, broken in shards, and a thread of raw oil. Serve before the crackle fades.
Chef's Tips
- Twenty seconds or charcoal: Cruschi pass from perfect to bitter in moments; the oil should be hot but not smoking, and your hand already reaching for the spoon when they go in.
- Crumble at the end: Stirred in early they soften back into peppers. Most go in off the heat; the last shards land on the plate itself.
- A salted anchovy melted into the garlic oil is a coastal-leaning variant; the strict vegan original lets the pepper’s sweetness lead.
