Spaghetti all’assassina with octopus: Peppe Guida’s recipe

Spaghetti all’assassina is a great classic of Bari cuisine, but in reality of rather recent origin: the official version is that they date back to 1967when the owners of the Al Sorso privilegito restaurant acquired the neighboring rotisserie, discovering an old sheet with directions for a unusual preparation, where the pasta was cooked directly in the pan (hence the particular crunchiness). The chef then decided to reinterpret it, obtaining a crazy result. However, Bari gastronome Sandro Romano has a different theory: according to him, spaghetti all’asssassina was born from the creativity of Enzo Francavilla, originally from Foggia and owner of the restaurant. It is said that he improvised the recipe to satisfy two customers looking for something substantial, using just a few ingredients: spaghetti, tomato and a generous dose of chilli. Result: one of the guests exclaimed amused and satisfied: “You really are a murderer”, alluding in particular to the spiciness of the dish. Which last year even ended up on New York Timesthanks to its recent diffusion among American chefs won over by the recipe presented by Stanley Tucci in his travel and cooking program Searching for Italy. Well, it is now the Neapolitan chef who is giving new impetus to this Apulian icon Peppe Guida – his Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa in Vico Equense has a Michelin star – otherwise known as the “king of pasta” (not surprisingly, he deserved an episode of the beautiful, new series of Chef Table Noodles and Spaghettion Netflix): for a few months in “culinary board” of the Pescaria restaurants – the latest restaurant has just opened in Courmayeur – has created a fish version of the famous dishto which he added the softness of octopus. Here’s how to prepare it.

Spaghetti all’assassina by Peppe Guida

Ingredients for 2 servings: 120 g of already cooked octopus; 1 clove of garlic; 200 g of spaghetti; 450 g tomato sauce; 2 ladles cooking water; to taste extra virgin olive oil, salt, tomato paste and fresh chilli pepper.

Procedure

• ⁠Soffritto: In a large pan, slowly fry the garlic in plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Avoid letting it burn.
• Add the chopped chillies and the pieces of cooked octopus.
• Pasta: Add the dried spaghetti to the pan with the sauce.
• ⁠Sauce: Pour the tomato puree and a little tomato paste to intensify the flavor. Salt rule.
• ⁠Cooking: Add a ladle of hot water at a time and cook the pasta, stirring constantly, as if you were preparing a risotto. The hot water will be used to cook the pasta and create the sauce.