Scialatielli ai frutti di mare – fresh pasta with seafood

The story of Scialatielli ai frutti di mare – fresh pasta with seafood

Scialatielli are a fresh pasta from the Amalfi Coast, shorter and thicker than tagliatelle and irregular in shape. Ai frutti di mare, with mussels, clams and the day’s catch, is their most classic dressing.

Unlike many old pasta shapes, scialatielli have an author: sources credit them to the Amalfi chef Enrico Cosentino, who developed them in the second half of the twentieth century. In the original recipe, according to some sources, the dough has milk instead of eggs, with basil and grated cheese.

The name comes from Neapolitan, but nobody knows for certain from where. The two most widely cited theories: from “scialà”, to enjoy oneself, combined with “tiella”, the pan; or from “sciglià”, to tousle, because they look like ruffled hair.