Try it: Translated from the Italian, strozzapreti (stroh-za-PRAY-tee) means “priest strangler.” The pasta is handmade in long, irregular rolled tubes, looking a bit like a rolled scarf. The story goes that a priest once ate the pasta so fast, he choked on the long strands. The pasta can be found in lengths of about 10 inches or, more commonly, in 2-inch lengths. It is found in several regions of Italy. It is sometimes confused with strongozzi, a pasta that is more like a rough spaghetti.
Use it: In the region of Umbria, cooks top strozzapreti with a sauce made of crumbled pork sausage, cream and black truffles. The pasta would work well with any rustic pasta sauce, including pesto or tomato sauces. Or for fun, use it for a different kind of mac and cheese. Cook the pasta in a large amount of boiling, salted water for 12 to 15 minutes. Do not overcook it; you want it to have some “bite.” It swells to about three times its original size.
Buy it: Look for the Rustichella d’Abruzzo brand (which advertises that the pasta was air-dried for 56 hours) for about $7.50 at Fox & Obel, 401 E. Illinois St., or at Convito Italiano in Wilmette and other specialty markets.