I finally turned the corner on my cold. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who expressed concern for me. I especially thank the people who listened patiently to my frog-like croak, as I tried to carry on a conversation. I always wanted a deep, throaty voice like Kathleen Turner. Unfortunately I sounded like the little boy in The Shining. Red Rum indeed!
I ate a lot of soup while I was sick. Tortilla Soup, which contains the wonder drug chipotle chili, worked better than any decongestant on my sinuses. But, I decided to cook something other than soup yesterday and spaghettini alla chitarra with bottarga seemed perfect to me. It's fast, satisfying, and it has chilies in it--which I still need for the sinuses. I'm sure that chilies can cure cancer.
Bottarga is the dried, salted roe of tuna or mullet, a preserving technique going back to ancient times. Bottarga is grated, sliced, or chopped and served over pasta, like parmesan cheese. Or it can be grated and made into a dip. I used tuna bottarga, which has a more pronounced flavor than the mullet variety. It's hard to explain what bottarga tastes like. It's salty, but not "fishy". It tastes like.......bottarga. You can buy it in a jar already grated or whole, which you grate yourself. This recipe is from Mario Bateli of the Food Network. There is no measurement for the bottarga. The best thing to do is to get some bottarga and grate it over pasta tossed with olive oil and red pepper flakes. You will discover how much of it suits you.
Spaghettini alla Chitarra with Bottarga
Spaghetti:
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1/2 to 1 habanero chile, seeded and thinly sliced (use rubber gloves to seed and slice)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup basic tomato sauce
1 pound spaghettini (reserve 1 cup cooking liquid)
Bottarga, for grating
1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs
Pinch chili flakes
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt.
In a cold 12 to 14-inch saute pan, combine the olive oil, chile, and garlic and slowly sweat over medium heat until the garlic is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomato, parsley, tomato sauce and 1 cup pasta cooking liquid and bring to a simmer.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, until tender yet al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato mixture. Toss over high heat for 1 minute. Divide the pasta evenly among 4 heated bowls. Grate bottarga over each bowl like a dusting of cheese, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and serve immediately with a sprinkling of chili flakes and a drizzle of olive oil.
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