The story behind the recipe
Pasta with strawberries is cooked pasta served with raw, chopped or mashed strawberries and natural yogurt or cream with sugar. Polish Wikipedia calls it a classic summer meal, sometimes a dessert, and notes that the strawberry season lasts from May to July when the fruits are ripe and inexpensive. Its origins are uncertain. TVN24 journalist Michał Sznajder mentioned on CNN that this dish "was born out of necessity" and "became popular in communist Poland, where some ingredients were hard to come by," and it is "partly a meal and partly a dessert." However, the American site Tasting Table points out that the theory about the PRL (People's Republic of Poland) is based on internet posts and lacks solid evidence.
Sweet flour dishes have a long history in Poland. Culture.pl states that before 1939, sweet pancakes, pierogi with cheese, or rice with apples were served only as desserts and were called legumin. During the PRL, in times of constant shortages, such inexpensive sweet dishes likely rose to the status of a meal, and after 1945, pasta with cheese and sugar was a common dish in preschool and school cafeterias and at home. Polish Wikipedia includes sweet pasta among typical Polish legumin. For many Poles, it is a taste of childhood: Kwestia Smaku and Kuchnia Lidla write about childhood memories, and The Polonist recalls meals at grandma's and in the school cafeteria. The author of The Polonist eagerly awaits the Kaszub strawberry, which has had EU Protected Geographical Indication since 2009. The dish itself is not listed among Traditional Products.
The world heard about this dish in July 2025 at Wimbledon. Iga Świątek mentioned in an interview that her favorite dish is pasta with strawberries and yogurt, which she ate as a child. The interviewer, Annabel Croft, found it "strange" but "fascinating," and one fan wrote online that such a dish should be illegal. The Polish Embassy in the USA shared the tennis player's post and tagged the Italian embassy.
Ingredients
Pasta
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300 g pasta ribbons (short ribbons; or fusilli, bowties, penne)
Abroad: tagliatelle, pappardelle, penne, farfalle or fusilli - 3 l water
- 1 tsp (about 6 g) salt
Strawberry Sauce
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1 kg strawberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)
Abroad: strawberries; Germany: Erdbeeren; out of season frozen - 6 tbsp (about 75 g) sugar (6–8, to taste; or honey)
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400 g sour cream 18% (or 12%, or thick natural yogurt)
Abroad: USA: sour cream; UK: soured cream; Germany: Schmand or saure Sahne; yogurt: Greek yogurt
To Serve
- mint leaves (not necessary)
Method, step by step
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In a large pot, bring 3 liters of water to a boil. Add salt only when the water boils, then add the pasta. Cook it uncovered for the time indicated by the manufacturer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. You will make the sauce in the meantime.
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Rinse the strawberries under cold running water whole, with the stems. Dry them with a paper towel and only then remove the stems. Thaw frozen strawberries beforehand.
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Cut the strawberries into smaller pieces. Set aside about one-third for topping. If the thawed fruit has lost its shape, do not cut it, just mash it immediately with a fork.
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Transfer the remaining strawberries to a bowl, sprinkle with sugar, and blend with a blender or mash with a fork. Blend longer for a smooth sauce, and if you prefer fruit pieces, mash them only roughly.
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Add the cream and mix with a spoon until combined. Taste: if the strawberries were sour, add more sugar.
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Check the pasta before the end of the cooking time: it should be soft but firm. Drain it in a colander and immediately return it to the pot. Do not drain it dry; it should remain slightly moist.
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Place the hot pasta on plates, drizzle with the strawberry sauce, and sprinkle with the reserved strawberry pieces. Garnish with mint leaves and serve immediately. If you prefer it cold, let the pasta cool and chill the finished dish in the refrigerator.
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