Ingredients (Serves 2)

For the pasta dough

• 100 g / 3.5 ounces semolina flour of good quality
• 50 g / 1.75 ounces warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• A pinch of salt

For the  dressing

• 1/4 cup / 60 ml slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes
• 50 g / 1.75 ounces fresh [homemade] ricotta

Instructions

How to make the dough and shape strascinati rigati

Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let it rest, well covered (e.g., wrapped in plastic film), for at least half an hour.

Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 5-6 pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the strascinati. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 1/4-inch / 3 cm long pieces. (If your hands are quite large, you may need to increase the dimensions of the pieces slightly.)

Working on the bamboo sushi rolling mat, shape each piece into a strascinato rigato. Place a piece of dough on the mat perpendicular with respect to the slats and just below one of the strings that keep the slats together. Place four fingers (the thumb remains idle) on the piece of pasta to cover it with your fingertips, then drag it towards you while pressing the fingertips into it. This movement thins the pasta and gives it a shell-like shape that will also carry the imprint of your finger.

Gently move the strascinato rigato off the mat and lay it out to dry on a lightly floured section of the kneading board (or a baking sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel). [You can watch my hands at work in this short video.]

Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough. Be very gentle in handling the pasta to as not to mar its pretty shape.

Cook the strascinati rigati and dress as you like. 

How to cook and dress the strascinati rigati

Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the strascinati in it. The time needed to cook them is a bit variable, depending on their size, how dry they are, but it is not long.

In the meantime, place the tomatoes in a small skillet and warm them up on low heat. When the pasta is almost ready, add the ricotta to the skillet and press it with a fork to cream it..

Taste and stop the cooking when the strascinati rigati are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain leaving a little bit of the cooking water clinging to them. Drop the pasta into the skillet placed over medium-low heat. Stir well. Plate and serve immediately.

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