Troccoli
Also known as: troccolo pasta
Fresh pasta from the province of Foggia, Apulia: strands like thick, rough spaghetti, cut from a sheet of semolina dough with a rolling pin, the troccolo.
Troccoli are a fresh pasta from the province of Foggia in Apulia, on Italy's national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT) since 2001. According to the Apulian PAT sheet they are like spaghetti but thicker and rougher, with a cross-section between round and square.
The dough is made from durum wheat semolina and water, usually with eggs, which give a bright yellow colour; it can also be made without eggs. It rests for about an hour and is rolled into sheets roughly 3 mm thick. The troccolo (also troccolaturo), a rolling pin fitted with circular blades, is pressed across the sheet to cut the strands, which are then separated by hand.
The sheet derives the names troccolo and troccolaturo from the Latin torculum and notes that Bartolomeo Scappi described an early version of the tool in 1570 as a "ferro da maccheroni". In Cerignola the pasta and the tool are also called torchi and torchio.
In Foggia troccoli are usually served with Sunday ragù; they are also served with local mushrooms or, on the Gargano, with seafood.
For example, Divella's fresh troccoli, made from semolina, cook in 4–5 minutes according to the producer's product page.
Facts
| Raw material | Durum wheat semolina, water, usually eggs (also made without) |
|---|---|
| Region | Apulia, province of Foggia |
| Duration | Divella fresh: 4–5 min |
| Main use | Sunday ragù, local mushrooms, Gargano seafood |
What it includes
How it connects to Pasta
Troccoli → kind of → Fresh pasta → kind of → 🍝 Pasta
Links
- What it contains
- Semolina, 🌾 Durum wheat, 🥚 Chicken egg
- Part of
- Fresh pasta
- Similar and different
- Spaghetti alla chitarra, Scialatielli, Spaghetti
Frequently asked questions
What is a troccolo?
According to the Apulian PAT sheet, a rolling pin fitted with circular blades, pressed across a sheet of dough to cut the strands. The name comes from the Latin torculum.
What are troccoli served with?
In Foggia usually with Sunday ragù; also with local mushrooms or, on the Gargano, with seafood.
How long do you cook troccoli?
Divella's fresh troccoli cook in 4–5 minutes according to the producer's page; follow the time on the pack of the product you buy.
What to read next
- 🌾 Durum wheat — A wheat species with very hard grain and strong gluten, milled into semolina for dry pasta and couscous.
- Spaghetti alla chitarra — Long egg pasta from Abruzzo with a square cross-section, cut on the chitarra, a wooden frame strung with steel wires.
- Scialatielli — Handmade pasta of Campania, similar to a shorter, flatter fusillo, made from flour, milk, eggs, basil and pecorino and cut into strips about 10 cm long; the original version is served with seafood.
- 🥚 Chicken egg — The egg of the domestic hen: in pasta it gives yellow colour, an elastic dough and protein, and in the EU it must be highlighted on labels as an allergen.