Inspired by the Sea ...By what's in the fridge.

Inspired by the Sea ...By what's in the fridge.

Recipe for one hungry biatch, which contains anchovies and bottarga.

• 100gr Spaghetti Numero Cinq (if Barilla)
• a small tin of anchovies (30gr drained)
• garlic to your taste (I used 2 cloves)
• tinned plum tomatoes (three from the tin, don't use any juice; you can save it for your next tomato sauce recipe)
• 2 tbsp EVO oil
• Bottarga (a teaspoon or two, to be sprinkled on top of the dish just before eating)
• dried chilli flakes (very little if used, but optional)

Pause "The Night Manager" and let Tom Hiddleston's tushy hanging there on the screen.

Bring water to the boil, weight 100gr of Spaghetti on your posh digital scale, add to the water and let cook according to package instructions, ie. al dente.

Take a pan large enough to contain spaghetti after they're drained and add EVO oil and your naked garlic passed through the garlic crusher.

In the meantime, drain your anchovies, cut them thinly, as thinly as you can, and once the garlic is nice and fried (still the colour of cream, do not let it burn) add on to the pan. 

Open a can of Plum Tomatoes and pick three juice ones; add to the pan and crush with a fork.

Add chilli if using, and let simmer for around 10 minutes.

Drain the pasta well and add to the tomato sauce pan. 

Mix well, transfer to bowl, add one or two teaspoons of Bottarga if a) you know what it is and/or b) you have any and/or c) you like it.

Annaffia with Vermentino di Gallura.

Eat.

Go back to Tom.

Laters.

Veggie Carbonara - Un salto nel passato

Today's been one of those days when dinner menu was thought & schemed in less than 30 seconds: generated as a carrot came into my vision field. 

This is a pasta dish I learned from an old friend's mother; I don't think we're that friends anymore but there are things and memories that keep humans connected - even against our will - and food is one of those things. I find this brilliant. A past experience to still connect us in the present. Well, in this case, in my present. So, this being a recipe from my childhood, this post is aptly named 'un salto nel passato': a step back in time.

When memories and senses connect it always comes to mind the "petite madeleine" Proust described in his Recherche. In my case though, it was sight, rather than taste that jogged my memory and pushed me to recreate this recipe, but the effect was quite similar. And welcome.

Enough with the rambling, here's the recipe:

Serves 1

2/3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium/large carrot thinly sliced

1/2 onion chopped

250/350 ml vegetable stock made with...

...1/2 good quality vegetable stock cube (I go for yeast-free Just Bouillon)

1 egg

70 gr spaghetti (wholemeal work well here)

Put a pot of salty water on the cooker and bring to a boil.

Heat 2/3 tbs of oil in frying pan, add the onion and fry for 10 minutes. Add the sliced carrot and let it cook for a few minutes before adding the stock. 

Hopefully your water in the pot is now boiling, so you can drown your spaghetti to cook them.

Carrots and onions need to simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are cooked to your taste (ideally you want them al dente, like pasta) and the stock has dried leaving a nice sauce. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the cooker.

Crack an egg in a plate and mix it, then add it to the carrot & onion mix. This should still be warm enough but not too hot as to cook the egg. You're not making frittata!

Drain your spaghetti and dress with the carrot & onion mix.  

Enjoy whilst reading "Du côté de chez Swann". Or not.