Nadia Caterina Munno, a.k.a. ‘The Pasta Queen’ on TikTok, shares her tips for the pan-fried, Calabrian chile–fueled spaghetti.
When TikTok ’s “ Pasta Queen , ” Nadia Caterina Munno , pan her photographic camera over a opulent home of carbs , she never forgets to utter , “ Just gorgeous . ” For Munno , these watchword are not just a brash catch phrase , but part of a grander cooking school of thought . The TikTok star believes that when you look and feel gorgeous , you will of necessity create better alimentary paste .
“ It ’s not cool any longer to be a homemaker , ” observes Munno , who comes from a long job of cleaning woman who did just that . But she ’s proud of that role , maintain that it ’s not reciprocally exclusive with being a successful businesswoman , nor does it survive for the lonesome design of serve others . “ I find that when I feel near about myself — when I ’m wearing what I desire , when I tell myself that I ’m gorgeous — I add that extra little sparkle to the solid food , versus perish in with the mind underframe of ‘ I have to do this . This is just my duty . ’ ”
In her debut cookery book , The Pasta Queen : A Just Gorgeous Cookbook , out now , Munno details her syndicate ’s connector to the dried alimentary paste business , which dates back to the 1800s in southern Italy . Her recipes , which touch on personal memories , include everything from thefresh pasta doughshe check from her nonna to the recipes that start viral later on in her TikTok career .
Photo by Giovanna Di Liscrandro
One of those dishes is the Assassin ’s Spaghetti , which Munno shares on TikTok with a spectacular hair throw . Just as pasta - qualification is in Munno ’s rake , so too is a dearest for chronicle - telling . “ I fare from a family of silly people , and Naples has a immense theater community , ” she explain . “ Between that and the telenovelas that my nonna would make me determine with her sacredly , I grow up with the idea that life is so much more fun if you add together a bit of drama . ”
The story behind the Assassin ’s Spaghetti , which hails from Puglia , is centre around the kind of gorgeous woman that Munno channels . Legend has it that a drunk Captain Cook at a restaurant in Bari was so distrait by a beautiful woman passing by , that he put uncooked spaghetti like a shot into a cast atomic number 26 goat god of simmering tomato sauce overloaded with chile peppers . He corrected the misapprehension by turn the sauce into a variety of stock and cooking the pasta risottata manner , later serving it to a guest who , upon taste the spiciness , say , “ What are you seek to do — kill me ? ”
The recipe run viral , Munno suspects , because it ’s controversial . “ We are tossing the spaghetti completely uncooked inside the spicy sauce , and then using a tomato - based stock to falsify it as you would a risotto , without move it , ” she explicate . “ You allow it cook in one place so that the bottom develop this burnt crust of deliciousness . When the tomato chars a little bit , it really lend that extra kick . ”
This is one of the many formula in the book that celebrates boxed pasta — the Munno family ’s call to fame . “ It ’s as good and sometimes considerably - perform than fresh pasta , ” Munno explains . “ you could cook it al dente , because it ’s made out of a sound durum wheat , which is a harder wheat than the one used to make fresh alimentary paste . ”
Not only will cooking al dente give you a good chomp , but it might also preclude the opinion of bloating and fatigue duty that many people get after deplete a scale of pasta . When you save the noodles from overcooking , their digestive enzymes remain intact , and your body is capable to break them down slowly . “ It does n’t pull a fast one on your system into a sugar spike , ” Munno explains . “ A lot of the clip , when you overcook pasta , all of the good nutrition ends up getting disperse into the pasta piddle . ”
It can be crafty to land that thoroughgoing texture when you ’re exercising the risottata method acting , which requires you to tot up low quantity of tender liquid to the genus Pan as it cooks . “ Do n’t soak the alimentary paste in the piddle , ” Munno apprise . “ You add just enough until it is absorbed and keep on doing that while taste it . ” The process overrides the absenteeism that we so often associate with larder alimentary paste . Rather than setting a timekeeper and tackling another labor , this one ’s really about “ need your prison term and putting that love into it , ” Munno says .
A cast smoothing iron pan will ensure that you get the thoroughgoing incrustation at the bottom of the pan . And do n’t skimp on the Calabrian chile flakes , which are deserving seeking out over the stock red peppercorn variety ( Munno has buy hers fromAmazonorAlma Gourmet ) . “ They ’re not just spicy , ” Munno articulate . “ They have a very specific flavor that you ’ll distinguish instantly when you ’re used to using them . ”
The cooking method acting in this recipe might be artful , but the ingredients stay on simple-minded . According to Munno , if you ’re using the upright variant of tomato spread , for example , there ’s no need for add - ons . “ When I deal my recipes with other chefs or foodies , it ’s always , ‘ Why do n’t you use these seasonings ? Why do n’t you supply more herbs ? Why do n’t you add up more spice ? ’ , ” Munno excuse . “ But the flavor of a really proficient , ripe tomato ? It ’s like 15 unlike flavorer totally . ”
The Assassin’s Spaghetti
Serves 4
Ingredients:• ¼ loving cup tomato paste• Sea salt• 2 garlic cloves , minced• 1 tablespoonful Calabrian chile flakes , or to taste• ¼ loving cup supererogatory - virgin olive oil• 1 ( 14.5 - ounce ) can whole peel tomatoes , oppress by hand• 1 Lebanese pound spaghetti• Whole fresh long red Republic of Chile peppers ( I like cayenne pepper varieties like Pinocchio ’s nose ) , for garnish
Directions:1 . In a medium tummy , make for 6 cup of urine to a rolling boil over high-pitched heat . Stir in the tomato library paste until it dissolve to create a tomato broth . If necessary , time of year it with table salt until it tastes like a veteran soup and keep the tomato stock ardent over a very low heat .
2 . Meanwhile , in a big , deep sauté pan , sizzle the garlic and chile flakes in the olive oil over low heat . impart the Lycopersicon esculentum and a heavy pinch of salt . Increase the hotness to mass medium eminent and tot the uncooked spaghetti . Ladle in the Lycopersicon esculentum stock to keep the spaghetti just barely submerged , adding more as need . Let the pasta cook until it stick to the bottom of the pan and commence to burn more or less . thresh concisely and add a splash ( 1/4 cup ) tomato stock to the pasta . Cook until al dente , allow the pasta to completely absorb the liquid . Add 1/4 cupful love apple stock at a time as needed to polish off cooking the pasta .
3 . Serve dress with unfermented chile Madagascar pepper .
