Pasta con i friggitelli is a Calabrian summer pasta made with small sweet green peppers, tomato sauce, and chunky homemade pasta like Fileja or cavatelli. I grew up eating this every summer in Calabria the moment the friggitelli arrived. They have a short season and we never let them pass without making this dish at least once a week.
Friggitelli are small, sweet green peppers that grow in southern Italy during summer. They are tender, mild, and shaped like a narrow cone.
Their name comes from the Italian verb friggere, to fry, because frying them in olive oil is the traditional way to cook them.
They are not spicy and they are not friarielli, which is a completely different vegetable.
Do not confuse the two.
In Calabria, we combine friggitelli with tomato sauce and serve them with chunky homemade pasta like Fileja or cavatelli.
The tenderness of the pepper and the bite of the pasta create a balance that makes this dish work.
It is a primo piatto for summer dinner parties, and it is one of the most regional things I know how to cook.
For more summer pasta recipes we make in the south of Italy you can check: Pasta with pesto rosso alla palermitana, Pasta alla Norma, Pasta with swordfish ragu, Calabrian Stroncatura, Pasta with pistachio pesto.
Ingredients
- Friggitelli - the star of the dish; sweet, tender, and very easy to prepare. You can clean them or cook them whole and remove the stem at the table.
- Tomato sauce - brings the body and binds the pepper to the pasta.
- Fileja or cavatelli - chunky, handmade Calabrian pasta shapes that hold the sauce and the pepper together. The size of the pasta matters here.
- Pecorino or Caciocavallo Ragusano - you need a strong, aged cheese. Parmesan is too mild for this dish.
- Extra virgin olive oil - for frying the peppers.
- Salt - to season.
Step by Step instructions
Rinse the friggitelli under cold water. Remove the stem and the seeds from inside.
You can also leave them whole and remove the stem at the table since the seeds are small and very tender.
Heat a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a wide pan and fry the friggitelli until they are soft.
Add the tomato sauce, season with salt, and let everything simmer together while you cook the pasta.
Cook the Fileja or cavatelli in well-salted boiling water according to their size.
Drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan with the sauce.
Stir everything together over the heat for a couple of minutes so the pasta absorbs the sauce.
How to Serve It
Serve immediately with a generous grating of Pecorino or Caciocavallo Ragusano.
The cheese needs to be strong enough to stand up to the pepper and the sauce.
More Summer Pasta from Southern Italy
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Pasta with Friggitelli - Small Sweet Green Peppers
Verified Culinary AuthorityIngredients
- 17 oz friggitelli
- 14 oz tomato sauce Mutti
- 1 lb Chuncky pasta Fileja or cavatelli
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup freshly grated Pecorino or Ragusano
Instructions
- Rinse the friggitelli under cold water and Remove the stem and the seeds from inside.
- Heat a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a wide pan and fry the friggitelli until they are soft.
- Add the tomato sauce, season with salt, and let everything simmer together while you cook the pasta.
- Cook the Fileja or cavatelli in well-salted boiling water according to their size.
- Drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan with the sauce.
- Stir everything together over the heat for a couple of minutes so the pasta absorbs the sauce.
- Serve immediately with a generous grating of Pecorino or Caciocavallo Ragusano.
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