Pasta alla Buttera

Published on June 4, 2023 in Italian By Vincenzo Prosperi

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PASTA ALLA BUTTERA

Craving a spicy pasta dish? Try this Tuscan pasta all buttera. It’s a hearty pasta, said to have originated in the coastal town of Maremma, where cowboys worked the land. They raised cattle and couldn’t afford to use beef in cooking, so the original recipe used wild boar. For a more accessible version, I have used pork.

Pasta alla buttera uses rich flavors from pork sausage to tomatoes, and olives and combines them into a spicy sauce with red hot chili peppers. It’s rustic, just like the Tuscan cowboys who created it, and tastes fantastic.

Watch the Pasta alla Buttera video recipe:

How to Make Pasta alla Buttera like an Italian

Vincenzo’s Plate Tips

Be careful with the chilli pepper!

It’s important to be very focused when handling red hot chili peppers. The juices and oils will get onto your hands, and they can be very harmful if they contact things like your eyes. So when handling chili peppers, remember to always wash your hands right after to get rid of the juices, and always be aware of what you’re touching.

Remove the sausage casing

When you buy sausages at the store, they come in a casing to keep them together in a perfect link. To remove this casing, make a small cut through the length of the sausages and peel the case right off!

Sausage over ground pork

When picking what meat to use in this recipe, I recommend using sausage over regular ground pork (or mince) because it will be much more seasoned and thus have more flavor. The pasta will soak up all the juicy oils from the sausage, and it will make a big difference. However, if you can find wild boar sausage at your local grocery store, use it! That’s the most authentic way to cook this dish, and trust me, you will love the taste!

The sauce test

To know when the sauce is ready, take a wooden spoon and scrape a line through the center of the pan. If the sauce separates and slowly comes back together, it is ready for your pasta! If it is runny and doesn’t separate well, add more pasta water to thicken it and cook for a little longer.

Don’t dump the pasta water

When cooking pasta, many people put a colander in the sink and dump the pasta water down the drain when they strain their noodles. But we need to keep some of the pasta water for cooking! So use either a handheld strainer to remove the pasta from the pot so we can save the water for the sauce. Or get a mug full of pasta water before straining the pasta!

How to Serve Pasta alla Buttera

Once you’ve plated the pasta, sprinkle some finely grated pecorino romano cheese on top and freshly cracked black pepper. Use as much as you’d like!

Pasta alla Buttera Recipe

Pasta alla buttera is a spicy, thick, red sauce pasta that uses hot chili peppers, black olives, and pork that all blend together to create a savory sauce. If you want to be traditional, cook it with wild boar sausage like they do in Tuscany. Pasta all buttera is a one-pan dish perfect for a quick dinner because it only takes 20 minutes to make!

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Equipment

1 large pot
1 Aluminum saucepan
1 Chopping-board
1 knife
1 fork
1 Spoon
1 wooden spoon or spatula
1 Plate
1 Handheld strainer
1 Mug

Ingredients

3 Italian pork sausages
20 Black olives
1 Red hot chili pepper
2 cloves Garlic
1 Quarter of an onion
Pecorino cheese as much as preferred
1 Bottle of passata
11 oz Mezzemaniche Pasta 300g
Sea salt as much as required
Pepper as much as preferred
Extra virgin olive oil as much as required

Instructions

Finely dice the onion and garlic. Then slice the red hot chili pepper and black olives into thin strips.
Add extra virgin olive oil to your pan and put it on the stove at a medium to low heat. Be generous with it - enough to coat the surface. Add the onion and chilli to the pan. Stir and let simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Remove the sausage from its skin casing and crush it using a fork.
Add the diced garlic and sausage to the pan. Press the sausage down in the pan to help it cook. Mix the ingredients and cook the sausage until it turns light gray.
Continue to break up the sausage while cooking if pieces are too large.
Add olives to the pan and stir. Then, add freshly cracked black pepper and mix through.
Add a bottle of passata to the pan before a sprinkle of salt and a generous amount of pepper. Cook the sauce for approx 10 minutes.
Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon (15g) of sea salt. Add the pasta and cook for 12 minutes or follow your package instructions.
Remove pasta from the pot using a hand strainer and place it into the saucepan. Mix everything together.
Remove some pasta water from the pot using a mug and set aside for later.
Toss the pasta then add a little pasta water to the pan to thicken the sauce if necessary.
Plate this up then top with pecorino cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.