Receta Spaghetti con la bottarga

by Frank Fariello

Bottarga—cured fish roe typical of Sardinian and Sicilian cookery—is an usual but tasty treat. It has a unique flavor that reminds me of a cross between caviar and anchovy but more delicate than either. Like a good, aged Parmesan or pecorino cheese, bottarga lends itself beautifully to grating over pasta. There are a number of ways of making spaghetti con la bottarga, but my favorite is also the simplest. Italians often talk about ‘dressing’ pasta but here is an instance when that’s literally true: You toss the pasta with grated bottarga and best quality extra virgin olive oil in a bowl, as if it were actually a salad, until the pasta is well coated and takes on a rich orange hue. The subtlest use of garlic imaginable–just rubbing the inside of the bowl—adds just a hint of that savory allium. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) spaghetti 75g (2-1/2 oz) bottarga, peeled and grated (and more for topping your pasta) 2 cloves of garlic, cut in half Best quality extra virgin olive oil Salt Directions Cook your spaghetti al dente in well salted water. While the spaghetti is cooking, rub the inside surface of a salad bowl vigorously with the cut sides of the garlic. applying enough pressure so the garlic juices really rub off on to the sides of the bowl. If you want a more assertive garlic flavor, leave the spent half-cloves in the bowl. Add a good glug of olive oil, then the grated bottarga to the bowl. Mix with a spatula until you form a kind of cream that you can spread over the bottom of the bowl and sides of the bowl. Set aside until needed. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it (but not too well) and pour it into the bowl. Mix everything together well, adding some more olive oil and/or grated bottarga is you think it needs it. If things are a bit dry, some more pasta water helps. Discard the garlic now if you’ve left it in the bowl. Serve immediately, with extra grated bottarga on top.     Notes on Spaghetti con la bottarga Bottarga comes in two basic types: tuna or mullet. The whole roe is salted, pressed and hung to dry, then sealed in beeswax. Whole bottarga is sold in vacuum sealed plastic and lasts more or less indefinitely. Bottarga is an ancient food, going back as far as the ancient Phoenicians and Egyptians, and enjoyed by the Roman times. (Some sources say the Arabs brought it to Sicily in the Middle Ages. The word bottarga is said to come from Arabic battarik, meaning ‘raw fish egg’.) Traditionally considered “poor man’s caviar”, like so many formerly rustic products it’s quite expensive today even if not quite as expensive as caviar. Fortunately, a little goes a long way. Like a fine hard cheese, bottarga is best bought whole and grated just before you want to use it. (It has a thin skin that needs peeling.) But they also sell powdered bottarga in small jars, which is actually a bit easier to find in supermarkets. It’ll do in a pinch, but—again like the cheese you buy pre-grated—is far less aromatic. Variations There are any number of ways to make spaghetti alla bottarga. Perhaps more common than the uncooked sauce that I prefer, many recipes call for lightly sautéing the garlic in the olive oil as if you were making an ajo ojo before adding the grated bottarga off heat. Some grated lemon zest is a very common addition, as is minced parsley; a bit of peperoncino (hot red pepper) adds a bit of heat. There is a semi-rosso version, where you add some split grape or cherry tomatoes to the sautéed garlic to wilt a bit before adding the bottarga. In some recipes, the bottarga is thinly sliced rather than grated. The measurements given here produce, to my mind, a flavorful but not overpowering result. But like grated cheese, the amount of bottarga you want to mix with your pasta is really up to you. The more you like it, the more you add… Spaghetti is the classic pasta for this dish, but it is equally good, I think, with other long pastas like spaghettoni, spaghettini, linguine, trenette or even fettuccine. Print Yum Spaghetti con la bottarga Total Time: 30 minutes Yield: Serves 4-6 Ingredients500g (1 lb) spaghetti 75g (2-1/2 oz) bottarga, peeled and grated (and more for topping your pasta) 2 cloves of garlic, cut in half Best quality extra virgin olive oil Salt DirectionsCook your spaghetti al dente in well salted water. While the spaghetti is cooking, rub the inside surface of a salad bowl vigorously with the cut sides of the garlic. applying enough pressure so the garlic juices really rub off on to the sides of the bowl. If you want a more assertive garlic flavor, leave the spent half-cloves in the bowl. Add a good glug of olive oil, then the grated bottarga to the bowl. Mix with a spatula until you form a kind of cream that you can spread over the bottom of the bowl and sides of the bowl. Set aside until needed. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it (but not too well) and pour it into the bowl. Mix everything together well, adding some more olive oil and/or grated bottarga is you think it needs it. If things are a bit dry, some more pasta water helps. Discard the garlic now if you've left it in the bowl. Serve immediately, with extra grated bottarga on top. Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes0.1http://memoriediangelina.com/2017/07/29/spaghetti-con-la-bottarga/(c) Frank Fariello Share this:Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Click to share on Feedly (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) You might also like... 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