Dark, porous and rough fettuccine: this is how the Struncatura (Italianized, “Stroncatura“) presents itself, a symbol of the gastronomic identity of a part of Calabria.
Stroncatura, was popular among the poor people of the Calabria region. The reason Stroncatura was so inexpensive was that it was created from the sweepings on the factory floor at the end of each workday: the leftovers of various types of grain milling, mixed with whatever dirt, grit, dust, and grime was swept up with it.
Normally the by-product sweepings were recycled as a feed pasta intended for animals. Low-quality pasta intended as animal feed is still sold commercially as pet food. But there were plenty of people in Calabria who were hungry enough to pay the low cost for this pasta, despite the dubious conditions under which it was derived.
STRUNCATURA CON SARDE E PAN GRATTATO
Per la pasta
100 gr whole wheat flour
80 gr Rye flour
Water to bind
For the sauce
5 fillets of anchovies in oil (or 2 teaspoons of anchovy paste)
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic
Salt to taste.
extra virgin olive oil
parsley
1 chili pepper
capers and black olives
Clean the sardines, desalinate them well and cut them into pieces.
Cut the dried tomatoes and the tops of capers into pieces not too small. If you want you can use caper flowers, remember to desalinate them and keep them in running water for about ten minutes
Toast the breadcrumbs in a pan, being careful not to darken it too much.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in the pan, add the desalted sardines and cut into pieces.
When the sardines are almost “dissolved” add the capers and the dried tomatoes.
Cook the pasta in abundant salted water for about 12 minutes.
Drain the pasta and sauté in a pan with the oil, sardines, capers and sun-dried tomatoes and finally season with toasted breadcrumbs.
Garnish with a small piece of salted sardine and a few caper leaves.
