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Pasta with Stracchino Cheese and Speck Cream

17/11/2023

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

Ingredients

  • 320 g of pasta (penne, fusilli or farfalle are all fine)
  • 200 g of stracchino cheese
  • 100 g of speck, cut into strips
  • 1 small onion
  • Extra virgin olive oil as needed
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Grated Parmesan cheese (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 is boiling, cook the pasta according to the package instructions until it is al dente.
  2. In the meantime, thinly slice the onion and fry 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, you can add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta’s cooking water to help the stracchino melt and create a cream.
  5. Drain the pasta al dente and save 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 some of the cooking water set aside if the cream is too thick.
  7. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and if you like, a grating of nutmeg and a pinch of grated Parmesan cheese 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 replacing it with other types of creamy cheese, such as taleggio or robiola, while maintaining the spirit of the dish.

Curiosity

Stracchino, whose name comes from the dialectal term “stracco” meaning tired, originally referred to the cheese made with the milk of tired cows returning from the autumn pastures. Today, stracchino is a fresh and soft cheese, typical of Northern Italy, that is perfectly suited to the preparation of creamy sauces and dressings for pasta.