Neapolitan candles, guanciale and olives that, sautéed together, give the pasta an extra boost. It is already known to everyone that first courses are the highlight of any menu, the most delicious part, at least as far as I’m concerned. Pasta is prepared almost all over the world, but nowhere else like in Italy there is such variety. Neapolitan candles are just one example. The production of this type of pasta, the Neapolitan candles, takes place in Gragnano, in the province of Naples, and here, thanks to the moderate air humidity, slow drying is achieved. Before being cooked, the candles are broken by hand and seasoned with succulent sauces. However, today I wanted to prepare them with a simple sauce and then seasoned with guanciale and golden olives.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 375.92 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 32.25 (g) of which sugars 0.46 (g)
- Proteins 7.50 (g)
- Fat 25.27 (g) of which saturated 6.23 (g)of which unsaturated 9.53 (g)
- Fibers 3.75 (g)
- Sodium 1,159.06 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 260 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for preparing Neapolitan Candles
- 10 oz pasta (long candles)
- 19.4 oz tomato pulp
- 2.5 oz Gaeta olives
- 2.5 oz guanciale
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 10 leaves basil
- 1 tbsp ricotta salata (smoked)
- 0.3 oz fine salt
Tools for preparing Neapolitan Candles
- Small Pan
- Pot
- Frying Pan
Steps
Break the candles by hand, not quite uniform and all the same. Prepare a tomato sauce by browning the garlic in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, cook it for 15 minutes with a few basil leaves. Adjust with salt, remove it from the heat and add the remaining basil.
In the small pan with a little extra virgin olive oil, brown the guanciale with the olives.
Golden the olives and the guanciale over low heat and, in the meantime, boil the Neapolitan candles in plenty of lightly salted water. Drain them al dente in the pan of tomato sauce, add the guanciale and crispy olives and sauté for a minute.
Bring to the table with a generous sprinkle of smoked ricotta salata on the Neapolitan candles with olives and guanciale.
