Name: Fusilli Lunghi alla Rustica
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil; 3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced; 1 tsp. finely chopped garlic; ½ tsp. red pepper flakes; 2 Tbsp. finely chopped flat leaf Italian parsley; 3 oz. pancetta, cut into thin strips from a ¼-inch thick slice; 1 large yellow or red pepper (or ½ of each), cored and seeded, peeled and cut into strips ½-inch wide; 1 lb. fresh ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into and ½-inch dice; Salt; ½ cup green olives, pitted and julienned; 2 Tbsp. capers; 1 tsp. coarsely chopped fresh oregano or ½ tsp dried oregano; 2 Tbsp. fresh basil leaves, torn by hand into small pieces; 1 pound fusilli lunghi; 4 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 2 Tbsp. freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

A plate of fusilli made with peppers green olives and capers.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Drew Aichele

This zesty, flavorful sauce is a recipe of my mother’s that I am particularly fond of and have made minor changes to. It may seem uncharacteristic of Italian cooking to use so many different ingredients, but they all balance each other well and the result is perfect harmony. This sauce is also good with fusilli corti, penne, and elicoidali.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Classic Pasta Cookbook’ by Giuliano Hazan. Buy the full book on Amazon. See more of Giuliano Hazan’s favorite pastas →

Recipe notes

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Recipe notes

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