Pasta al ceppo
Sheet pasta that is similar in shape to a cinnamon stick.
Name. Ceppo means a log or a stick. The name describes a strip of dough rolled around a stick, like a cinnamon stick.
What it is
Pasta al ceppo is a dried shape that looks like a cinnamon stick. A strip of dough is rolled on itself into a loose tube with a central groove. The groove holds sauce. The early method wrapped the dough around a thin stick or a knitting needle. The best known version comes from Rustichella d'Abruzzo. That maker uses durum wheat semolina and water, bronze dies, and slow drying at low temperature. The pieces stay firm and chewy after cooking.
Rustichella sells the shape as a regional cut from Abruzzo. No other fetched source gives an older origin. The maker suggests smooth sauces or a finely ground meat or vegetable ragù, so the sauce collects inside the roll. It also proposes a sausage, chicory and garlic dressing, and a Norma style sauce with aubergine and salted ricotta. The shape also works in baked dishes.
How to cook pasta al ceppo
10 minutes in boiling salted water. Take the shorter time for al dente, the longer time for fully cooked.
10:00
Start when the water returns to the boil.
Water and salt
- Pasta, dry
- 400 g
- Water
- 4 L
- Salt
- 40 g
100 g per person as a main. A litre and 10 g of salt per 100 g. Adjust with the portion calculator.
The steps
- Bring 4 L of water to a full boil in a tall pot. Add 40 g of salt when it boils.
- Add the pasta al ceppo. Stir for the first minute so nothing sticks. Start the timer when the water returns to the boil.
- Bite a piece at 9 minutes. A hairline of white at the centre is al dente.
- Scoop out a cup of the cooking water. Drain, or lift the pasta straight into the pan.
- Toss with the sauce over the heat for a minute. Add cooking water a splash at a time until it clings.
Read more: what al dente means and why the pasta water matters. Times for every shape are on the cook page.
What it is served with
Pairs with: Meat ragu · Norma · Sausage ragu · Vegetable ragu · Baked (al forno)
Classic plates: pasta al ceppo alla Norma.
By brand: numbers, cook times, spec sheets
2 brands, 2 product pages.
| Brand | Product | Cook |
|---|---|---|
| Rustichella d'Abruzzo | Pasta al Ceppo 500g | |
| Rustichella d'Abruzzo (Manicaretti importer page) | Pasta al Ceppo | 10 min |
Nutrition
Per 100 g of dry semolina pasta. The shape does not change these numbers. The dough does, so a whole wheat or egg version of this shape reads differently. See every dough.
| Per 100 g | Energy | Protein | Carbohydrate | Fibre | Fat | Sodium | Iron |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry | 371 kcal | 13.0 g | 74.7 g | 3.2 g | 1.5 g | 6 mg | 3.3 mg |
| Cooked | 158 kcal | 5.8 g | 30.9 g | 1.8 g | 0.9 g | 1 mg | 1.3 mg |
One portion. 100 g dry becomes about 235 g cooked, 371 kcal and 13 g of protein. Pasta takes on 2.3 times its weight in the pot.
No pasta al ceppo? Use these
Ranked by how they behave with sauce, not how they look.
Sources
- Pasta al Ceppo 500g, Rustichella d'Abruzzo (product page, from the brand's own product page)
- Pasta al Ceppo, Rustichella d'Abruzzo (Manicaretti importer page) (cook time, from the brand's own product page)
- Casa Rustichella: Pasta al Ceppo 500g (profile: origin, form, use)
- Manicaretti: Pasta al Ceppo (profile: origin, form, use)
- Market Hall Foods: Rustichella Pasta al Ceppo (profile: origin, form, use)
- Wikipedia: List of pasta (profile: origin, form, use)
- Cook time: Rustichella d'Abruzzo (Manicaretti importer page) Pasta al Ceppo: 10 min.
- USDA FoodData Central (nutrition per 100 g, by dough: FDC 169736, Pasta, dry, enriched; FDC 169737, Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt), public domain. The cooked yield is derived from the two energy figures.
- Pasta al ceppo, Wikipedia (names, origin), CC BY-SA 4.0
- Dimensions: brand spec sheets and measured boxes. Blank fields are unmeasured, never guessed.