Ragged Pasta with a Thousand Herbs

Eight fresh herbs go into this pasta dish: parsley, basil, tarragon, mint, marjoram, thyme, sage, and rosemary. They don’t get cooked. Instead, they’re chopped and combined with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then the hot drained stracci gets tossed into the herbs so the residual heat releases their essential oils without wilting them into mush.

Stracci means “rags” in Italian, and these irregular, torn sheets of fresh pasta catch the herb-oil mixture in their folds and wrinkles better than any smooth, uniform shape could. If you can’t find stracci, fresh pappardelle torn into rough pieces works as a substitute. The ragged edges are the point.

The raw herb approach is what makes this dish sing. Cooked herbs turn muddy and lose their individual character. Here, you taste each one distinctly: the anise bite of tarragon, the cool brightness of mint, the piney punch of rosemary. They layer on each other rather than blending into one generic “herby” flavor.

Chef Tips

• Use only fresh herbs. Dried herbs can’t replicate the vibrant, aromatic quality this dish depends on.
• Cook the stracci for just 1 to 2 minutes. Fresh pasta cooks fast and overcooked pasta won’t hold the herb mixture.
• Toss the pasta with the herbs first, then add the Romano. Adding cheese too early clumps it before it can distribute evenly.

Variations

• Swap Romano for Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano depending on how sharp you want the cheese to taste.
• Add toasted pine nuts for crunch and richness.
• Use whatever combination of fresh herbs you have on hand. Even four or five varieties will deliver a complex, layered flavor.