Burnt wheat fusilli with garden vegetables.
What exactly is burnt wheat?
In the past, in the fields of southern Italy, farmers would gather the ears left after harvesting and burning the fields before the new cultivation, to clean the land and at the same time give strength with the ash. This process inadvertently produced a type of wheat with a characteristic dark color and rich, smoky flavor. The burnt wheat was then collected and ground into flour and used to make bread, pasta, and other baked goods, providing an economical and nutritious source of nourishment for less affluent families.
Burnt wheat in modern cuisine
Today, burnt wheat is rediscovered by chefs and gourmets for its distinct flavor and fascinating history. It is used in refined and modern recipes, ranging from homemade pasta to artisanal bread, demonstrating how simple ingredients can be transformed into sophisticated dishes. Its growing popularity underscores the interest in sustainable food products and food stories with deep roots.
With this flour, today I propose fusilli made with a rod, which in truth, is not a rod… I use a lacquered sushi stick for all types of pasta that need to be “wrapped”
Beautiful color and shape gave the dish a delicious look; the authentic flavor of burnt wheat, and freshly picked vegetables from the garden did the rest; as I often write, I like to experiment with new combinations while staying true to Italian culinary traditions, making the most of typical products, I love simple and rural cuisine, and my choice to self-produce many of the foods I consume, helps me achieve results with flavors and colors that I find top-notch!
Therefore, I invite you to try this delicious yet simple recipe to bring the authentic taste of tradition to the table.
I called them fusilli, in some areas they call them busiate, in any case, they are beautiful and good!
For the video Click Here
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Burnt Wheat Flour and Garden Vegetables…
To prepare this delicious dish… In this recipe, I chose to use 50% burnt wheat flour, but you can use it in purity.
- 5.3 oz durum wheat semolina
- 5.3 oz burnt wheat flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 teacup sauté mix (Which I prepare and keep in the freezer, or fresh but cut into strips.)
- 6 stalks thistle (wild thistle tops with heads to clean well, to give a bitter touch)
- 1 bunch aromatic herbs (By aromatic herbs, I mean about ten arugula leaves and 3 wild fennel tops)
- 1 cup peas (My garden harvest; frozen ones are also fine)
- to taste salt
- to taste olive oil
- to taste pecorino cheese
Tools
A pot and a pan, a board for making fusilli and a mixing bowl
Steps
Prepare the bowl with the flours and eggs….
We’re two, so the photos are indicative, follow the quantities to get the described portions. Mix the two flours and add the eggs, knead carefully,
until you get a smooth dough, which you’ll let rest for 30 minutes wrapped in plastic wrap.
You have two possibilities to create the little sausages to wrap around the stick: the first is to cut pieces and create thin sausages about 4/5 mm thick, or roll out the dough into a sheet of the same thickness and cut it into thin strips that will have a square section in this case, the result will be excellent anyway. After flouring everything, wrap around the stick and…
…roll with your hands on the board to flatten; gently remove and continue until the dough is finished
Your fusilli will have this shape…
At this point, you can prepare the water to cook the pasta, meanwhile, sauté the soffritto mix, peas, and cleaned and chopped thistles, chop the arugula and fennel and add at the end of cooking…
Cook your fusilli in salted water and add to the sauce
I decorated with garden flowers and served with aged pecorino
Your burnt wheat fusilli are ready to be enjoyed.
If you like, once the fusilli are ready, you can also freeze them for other occasions, or divide the work into two stages. Naturally, you can vary the sauce… I use the available vegetables, and this is the right period to appreciate fresh vegetables even more
