This Italian pasta alla crudaiola with spaghetti is the laziest and incredible easy recipe that you can make. The sauce is irresistible, loaded with fresh cut tomatoes, basil leaves, anchovies, garlic, ricotta salta and plenty of olive oil. The flavour is just delicious, sweet, acid and salty. I forgot to mention that the sauce is served RAW! Yes, you heard it right, NO COOKING apart from the pasta.
This recipe comes directly from the south of Italy, the beautiful region of Puglia. Normally is served with orecchiette but any pasta works great here. You can swap the spaghetti for gnocchetti Sardi or for Tonnarelli pasta.
Aside from pasta with salsa alla crudaiola, I've also more Italian pasta recipes as my spaghetti arrabbiata with creamy spicy tomatoes sauce, pasta with pesto and tomatoes, casarecce pasta with irresistible smokey roasted eggplant, pasta with ricotta cheese and parsley pesto, amatriciana pasta in case you want to try something from Rome, and baked pasta with sausages perfect for the cold Season.
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Variations
This crudaiola recipe is your blank canvas. Feel free to use it as a base and add whatever ingredients you have on hand. Below are some ideas to get started.
- Tomatoes: Any variety will perk perfectly as long as it's ripe and has thin skin.
- Cheese: Add small mozzarella balls (mozzarelline), burrata or feta. You can also use grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano instead of ricotta salt.
- Olives: Add some Kalamata olives for a salty and savoury kick.
- Capers: Use capers to give the pasta extra saltiness.
- Pesto: Add a spoonful of basil pesto or arugula pesto to the crudaiola sauce.
- Tuna: Toss in a few chucks of good quarry tuna fish in tin.
- Salad: Add a few handful of washed arugula leaves for a peppery flavour.
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Nuts: Toss in a few roasted pine nuts.
- Pasta: The great things abut this crudaiola is that it works great with a variety of shapes. You can also use pasta shape as fusilli, orecchiette, penne, farfalle or gnocchetti. The choice is yours!
Ingredients
Yes, that's right. This spaghetti with salsa alla crudaiola is absolutely perfect for Summer. It's an ideal no-cook meal for those hot days, and it's also the time when tomatoes are at their best: juicy, sweet and bursting with flavour.
- Tomatoes- Buy tomatoes with thin skin as they tend to be more juiciest. My choices is datterini tomatoes as they are the sweetest.
- Garlic- Don't skip the garlic. It provides a pungent flavour that perfectly balances the sweetened of the tomatoes. If you prefer a milder flavour, cut a clove in half and let it rest with the sauce. Be sure to discard the garlic before serving, this way the flavour is less intense.
- Herb- Any fresh herb works great here. You can choose to use just one, o create a mix of herbs. My fav is mixing basil leaves with chives.
- Olive oil- Always use extra virgine olive oil. Its rich, distinct flavour is essential in the Italian recipes.
- Anchovies- Oh I love anchovies. They works extremely well in here. They salty flavour compliments the rest of the ingredients.
- Cheese- For the finishing touch top the pasta with grated ricotta salta. Its salty, slightly texture is a great contrast to the fresh crudaiola sauce.
- Pasta- As we know even spaghetti have different texture and shape. My choice would be to use the classic spaghetti and no to spaghetti.
How to make pasta alla crudaiola with spaghetti
- Step 1: Star by chopping the tomatoes into small pieces.
- Step 2: Add them to a large bowl along with the grated garlic anchovies chopped anchovies. Tear the basil leaves by hand and add them to the bowl.
- Step 3: Add plenty of olive oil, salt, and cracked black pepper. Give it a good stir. Cover the bowl and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Step 4: Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Once cooked, drain the spaghetti and immediately add it to the bowl with the sauce and the grated ricotta salata. Give everything a good stir and serve immediately.
Hint- When you're using the garlic, just remember this one tip: slice the clove in half and remove the green or white germ from the middle with a knife. This way it'll be more easy to digest.
Pasta alla crudaiola top tips
Best quality ingredients- Even though this recipe is extremely simple, using high quality ingredients is a must. This is especial true for the olive oil. Since the crudaiola sauce is raw and has few ingredients, the flavour of the olive oil really stands out. Choose the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford. It truly makes all the difference.
Let it rest- The secret to a flavour salsa crudaiola lies in letting the sauce rest for 30 minute once mixed. This allow the tomatoes to release all their sweet juices and have the time to blend with the rest of the ingredients. The results is a sauce that burst in flavour.
Serve it at room temperature- This dish is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature. The contrast between the warm spaghetti at the room temperature salsa crudaiola is what makes the flavours bloom and stand out. Believe me, you don't want a cold sauce straight from the fridge where you can barely taste the flavour!
📖 Recipe
Pasta crudaiola with spaghetti ( easy cold pasta)
Equipment
- 1 Vegetable Knife
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Cheese grater
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 Pasta pot
Ingredients
- 700 gr Datterini tomatoes 25 oz
- 1 Garlic grated
- 10 gr Anchovies in olive oil (if stored in salt remove the excess of salt) 0.4 oz
- 10 Basil leaves
- 4 teaspoon Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- Ricotta salata to taste
- 360 gr Spaghetti 13 oz
Instructions
- Chop the tomatoes into small pieces with a knife, and add them to a large bowl along with the grated garlic and chopped anchovies.
- Tear the fresh basil leaves by hand and add them to the bowl. Add the olive oil, salt, and cracked black pepper. Give it all a good stir. Cover the bowl and let the sauce rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- 10 minutes before the end of the resting time cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Once cooked, drain the spaghetti and immediately add it to the bowl with the sauce and the grated ricotta salata. Give everything a good stir to coat the pasta evenly and serve immediately.
Notes
MAKING THIS? I'D LOVE TO SEE IT!
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Francesco says
We had your spaghetti for dinner with mi kids and we loved it. They keeping asking for it!