Pasta dei Soldati
Mezzi paccheri, tomato, basil
Tomato, garlic, olive oil, chili, and a fistful of basil at the end — nothing else. A poor dish from the contadino tradition, made with whatever pasta shape was in the house, most often mezzi paccheri or tubetti.
The name is exactly what it sounds like — soldiers' pasta, or sometimes "alla soldatella," a dish that could be put together in a field kitchen with almost nothing: tomato, garlic, oil, a little heat, and whatever basil was growing nearby. It belongs to the same family of cucina povera as most of the everyday sughi on this blog — quick, cheap, and built to feed people with what was on hand.
It carries a specific weight in my family. My grandfather spent time interned in the Aegean during the war — he and a fellow soldier from Naples became lifelong, brotherly friends there, the kind of bond that only gets made under those circumstances. This was the dish he called by that name afterward: mezzi paccheri, sugo, basil. Whether it's truly what he ate as a soldier or simply what he named in its memory, it's the pasta that carries his war in it.
Named for soldiers, and in this family, tied to one soldier in particular — my grandfather, and the friend he made in the Aegean who stayed his brother for life.
The recipe
For four.
Pasta dei Soldati — mezzi paccheri, tomato, garlic, chili, and basil. Click to enlarge.
360 gMezzi paccheri
500 gFresh tomatoes, or passata
2 clovesGarlic
To tasteExtra virgin olive oil
To tasteChili flakes
To tasteSalt
A generous handfulFresh basil leaves
1
In a wide pan, warm a generous drizzle of olive oil and let the crushed garlic cloves and chili flakes turn golden and fragrant.
2
Add the tomatoes, cut into cubes (or the passata), and season with salt. Cook over medium heat for 20–30 minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces.
3
Cook the mezzi paccheri in plenty of salted water, draining it very al dente.
4
Tip the pasta directly into the pan with the sauce. Add a ladle of pasta water and toss over the heat until glossy and well combined.
5
Off the heat, tear in a generous handful of fresh basil by hand, to keep all its fragrance.
No cheese — this one stays exactly as plain as it was meant to be.
Related
Sciuè Sciuè
Another quick pantry tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes instead of fresh. See
the full recipe.
Cucina Povera
The philosophy behind this dish and most of the everyday cooking on this blog. See
the full essay.
Buon appetito.
