Spajiro Spaghetti

Sami was craving for pasta in Tokyo and I very reluctantly went into a Japanese-Italian-Pasta-Fusion joint, Spajiro. This is a retro-engineered version of the very satisfying dish I had there that makes natto, the infamous fermented soy beans, accessible even for the sceptics. Serves two.

pasta alla puttanesca

The anchovies really do the trick in this sauce. Without the olives and capers, this is a great base for other tomato-sauces.

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
500 grs ripe tomatoes or tinned tomatoes
100 grs black olives, pitted
3 teaspoons small capers
4 anchovies in oil
1 red chili
tomato concentrate
olive oil

Finely chop the onion, garlic and chili, sweat with olive oil in a large pan until soft and translucent. Meanwhile, peel, de-seed and chop the tomatoes, roughly chop the olives, drain the capers. Buzz the anchovies into a pulp in a food processor, adding some tomatoes if necessary. Add tomatoes and anchovies to the onions, simmer for 15 minutes until thickened. Add tomato concentrate to adjust texture and colour, add olives and capers. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with plenty of fresh parsley or thyme.

Good with linguine or spaghetti.

spaghetti with mushroom and parmesan (serves 4)

My own invention. Delicious!

250 g mushrooms (oyster are good) torn into strips

1 tb butter

1 packet spaghetti, cooked

2 cloves garlic, minced

big handful of finely grated parmesan

broad leaf parsley, chopped

Sautee mushrooms in butter for a few minutes, add a splash of water, add garlic and cook a further minute. They should be juicy. Toss with the hot spaghetti, parmesan, and parsley and season.

pasta bolognese (serves 4)

15 g dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in microwave for 30 secs, soaking water reserved
1 1/4 c sweet white wine, reduced to 2 tb
1/2 small carrot
1/2 onion
85 g pancetta
1 can tomatoes
1 1/2 tb butter
1 clove garlic, minced
500 g equal parts beef, veal, pork mince c. 20% fat
1 1/2 c milk
3 tb tomato paste

Finely chop vegetables and pancetta, or pulse in food processor.

Cook pancetta in butter until browned, add carrot, onion, porcini and cook until soft. Add garlic, cook until fragrant. Add meat, breaking it up quickly, cook for 1 min, add milk and simmer briskly until mostly evapourated and meats starts to sizzle. Stir in tomato paste. Add tomatoes and porcini water. Season. Simmer until liquid reduced to your taste, stir in wine and cook briefly.

Serve over pasta with grated parmesan.

Source: ‘The New Best Recipe’

pastas

scallops, bacon, leeks, wine, cream

fettucine, smoked salmon, lemon juice, hot cream

white wine, blue cheese, pinenuts

melted sweet onions, turmeric

spaghetti, bocconcini, chopped garlic, chilli oil

rocket pesto, tomato, olives, artichokes

saute some diced chorizo in butter and oil for one minute, add half a yellow onion, saute for another minute, add 75g cleaned black tiger prawns, 50g of sun-blushed tomatoes and a red chilli, cook another two minutes, toss with spaghetti, top with torn basil leaves and lime juice

walnuts, garlic, olive oil, breadcrumbs, parsley

pasta with tuna and tomato sauce (serves 4)

4 tb extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tin italian tomatoes, cut up
salt
350g tin tuna in olive oil, drained and crumbled
pepper
15 g butter
dried spaghetti or penne
3 tb chopped parsley

Cook garlic in the oil until pale gold, add tomatoes and gently simmer for 25 mins, until the oil floats free from the tomatoes. Turn off heat, add tuna and salt to taste. Add butter and pepper. Combine with the freshly cooked pasta and then parsley.

A surprisingly good pasta when the cupboard is bare.

Source: The Essentials of Italian Cooking

spaghetti with lemon, prosciutto and chilli (serves 4)

60 ml lemon juice
60 ml e.v. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 small fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
12 slices prosciutto, cut into thin strips
1 tb grated lemon zest
250 g rocket, shredded
400 g dried spaghetti

Whisk lemon juice, oil, chillies, salt and pepper together. Combine prosciutto, lemon zest and rocket.

Cook pasta, drain and toss with rocket mixture. Pour over dressing and toss.

Source: Bill’s Food

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