Il Cucinologo
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Pasta with Stracchino Cream and Speck

17/11/2023

Pasta with stracchino cream and speck is a creamy and flavorful first course that combines the sweetness of stracchino with the smoky taste of speck. Here’s how to prepare it.

Ingredients

  • 320 g of pasta (penne, fusilli or farfalle work great)
  • 200 g of stracchino
  • 100 g of speck cut into strips
  • 1 small onion
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Grated Parmesan (optional)
  • A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
  • Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Preparation

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil to cook the pasta. When the water boils, cook the pasta according to the package instructions for an al dente texture.
  2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion and sauté it in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil until it becomes translucent.
  3. Add the speck strips to the onion and let them brown for a few minutes until they become crispy.
  4. Cut the stracchino into pieces and add it to the speck in the pan. Let it melt over low heat, stirring gently. If needed, add a couple of tablespoons of pasta cooking water to help melt the stracchino and create a cream.
  5. Drain the al dente pasta and reserve some of the cooking water. Pour the pasta directly into the pan with the stracchino cream and speck.
  6. Mix the pasta well in the pan with the sauce, adding a bit of the reserved cooking water if the cream is too thick.
  7. Adjust with salt and pepper, and if desired, a grating of nutmeg and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan to further enrich the dish.
  8. Garnish with chopped parsley for a touch of color and freshness before serving.

If you don’t have stracchino, you can try substituting it with other creamy cheeses, such as taleggio or robiola, while keeping the spirit of the dish.

Trivia

Stracchino, whose name derives from the dialect term “stracco” meaning tired, originally referred to cheese made from the milk of cows returning tired from autumn pastures. Today stracchino is a fresh and soft cheese, typical of northern Italy, that lends itself perfectly to making creamy sauces and pasta dressings.