Fedelini is a thin pasta similar to spaghetti, but slightly thicker than vermicelli. It is commonly paired with marinara sauce and subtle pesto, and not with meat-based red sauces. It can also be served simply with olive oil and garlic.
Fedelini is a type of pasta that is shaped like spaghetti but thinner, being only slightly thicker than vermicelli. The name of the pasta translates into “little faithful”. This is not an incredibly common type of pasta outside Italy. There are a few companies that make faithfullini and distribute it outside of Italy, but just as there are some recipes that specifically call for faithfullini, there are also a few shops that stock it. Outside of Italy, it is much more common for recipes to call for other types of thin pasta such as vermicelli or angel hair.
This type of pasta is generally considered appropriate to pair with marinara sauce and subtle pesto. That’s because the thinner pasta strands do a better job of picking up the thin sauce than larger pasta, ribbon-shaped pasta, and tubular pasta. This allows for better transfer of the sauce from the plate to the mouth and hence, offers better flavor transfer as well.
Thicker cream-based sauces are more commonly paired with looser pastas like fettucini and linguine. Fedelini is not commonly paired with meat-based red sauces. Instead, these sauces are usually paired with thicker pasta like spaghetti. This is because thicker sauces tend to overwhelm delicate pastas such as fedelini and vermicelli so that the flavor of the pasta itself is all but lost.
Sometimes fedelini is served simply with olive oil and garlic with perhaps some herbs as a side. This simple dish sometimes incorporates lemon juice and Parmesan cheese. Those who love a simple pasta dish like this usually prefer a thin pasta like fedelini.
This dish is as simple to prepare as it is delicious. First, saute 3-4 thinly sliced garlic cloves in four tablespoons (60 mL) of olive oil. Remove it from the heat when the garlic has a light gold color.
Drop one-half pound (225 grams) of fidelini into boiling water. Cook for 6-8 minutes depending on preferred firmness. Strain the pasta, then add three tablespoons of butter (about 45 grams) and one-third of a cup (75 grams) of Parmesan. Add this to the pan and heat together for a minute or two. Experienced cooks can prepare the olive oil and garlic while also preparing the pasta.
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