La dolce vita, or the good life, can be experienced through some of Italy’s finest ingredients: pasta, olive, lemon. This is an Ottolenghi recipe, inspired by his childhood and time spent in Italy over the years, with ingredients from the Italian pantry. Recently, I visited Puglia and desperately want to repeat the good eats with the abundance of seafood being close to the water. What can be better than the taste of the sea and a bowl of fresh pasta In the comfort of your own home? Perhaps by the seaside table — literally.
The fresher the seafood, the better the dish will be. From time to time, I get freshly packed crab meat directly from the Eastern Shore, but not this week. So I have to buy a container of crab meat from the store. And it’s okay. It’s also fine to use any seafood of your choice.
Making fresh pasta is a project, but a full-fledge pasta experience will be incomplete without going through the motion. I’m glad I’ve done it. This time with saffron which gives the pasta a rich golden tone. With a pasta machine, making fresh pasta can be a lot of fun. Ottolenghi’s recipe calls for using “00” flour and resting and hydrating the pasta dough for at least an hour. It’s so smart to do resulting in a supple yet elastic dough that’s easy to roll.
Another takeaway is the garlic-infused flavor oil. I always wonder why the garlic slices in the restaurant are so thoroughly and uniformly golden. Now I know — by frying it in hot oil, like 4 tablespoons for 6 cloves of sliced garlic. Pass the mixture in a sieve; now you have fried garlic as topping and garlic-infused olive oil for flavoring. A quick step with a big payback, no less. How come I didn’t think of that?
I can go on and on about the brilliance of the inspiration as well as the techniques behind the dish. The last thing I feel compel to comment is the grated tomato. You take a big tomato, grate it and turn the juice together with some tomato pulps into a sauce. This is as easy as opening a can of tomato sauce. Surely, it’s a step that nona would approve.
Crab, Saffron and Tomato Linguine
You may buy the linguine and put the saffron in the sauce instead of making fresh pasta. You could also swap out the crab for other fish or shellfish of your choosing.
Ingredients
- FOR THE PASTA:
- ⅛ tsp saffron threads
- 200g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- FOR THE SAUCE:
- 60ml olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- 1 red chilli (10g), cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
- 2 celery sticks (75g), cut on the diagonal into ½cm-thick slices
- 100ml dry white wine
- 50g brown crab meat
- 1 large plum tomato (140g), roughly grated and skin discarded
- 100g white crab meat, or any seafood of your choice
- 10g (about 2¾ tbsp) parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- 5g (about 1½ tbsp) tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
- 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp lemon juice and zest
Instructions
MAKE PASTA DOUGH: For the pasta, put the saffron in a small bowl or cup, add a teaspoon of just-boiled water, and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Tip in the beaten eggs, the saffron and its soaking water mix to a dough with your hands. Put the dough on a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth, elastic and bouncy. Wrap the dough tightly, then chill for an hour (or overnight, if you want to get ahead).
MAKE GARLIC FLAVORED OIL: Put the oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat and, once hot, fry the garlic, stirring, for a minute, until lightly golden. Tip the mixture into a small sieve set over a small bowl, then leave both the fried garlic and flavoured oil to cool.
ROLL PASTA: Set up a pasta machine, then lightly flour both the machine and a clean work surface. Divide the dough in two and, using a floured rolling pin, roll out both pieces into a 1cm-thick rectangle as wide as the machine. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the pasta through the machine twice at every level, starting from the widest setting and dusting with flour as you go. Stop at the penultimate setting, when the pasta is about 1mm thick. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Cut each sheet of pasta in half widthwise, so you now have four pieces, lay these out separately on a work surface, and dust generously with flour. With the shorter side of one sheet facing you, loosely roll up each piece of dough, then use a sharp knife to cut along its length into ½cm-wide strips. Repeat with the remaining sheets, then unravel all the strips of noodles and leave to rest in another generous dusting of flour.
COOK PASTA: Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to a boil. Drop in all the pasta, cook for three minutes, until al dente, then drain, saving 50ml of the pasta cooking water.
MAKE THE SAUCE: Heat a tablespoon of the reserved garlic oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Add the chilli and celery, and saute, stirring occasionally, for four minutes, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in the wine, brown crab meat and grated tomato, and cook for a couple of minutes, until thickened. Ladle in the reserved pasta water, stir in the drained pasta, white crab meat, herbs, cherry tomatoes, a quarter-teaspoon of fine salt and a good grind of pepper, and toss for about a minute, until the sauce emulsifies.
Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and zest and remaining garlic oil, divide between four shallow bowls, sprinkle with the fried garlic and serve.
Notes
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jun/11/crab-saffron-linguine-grilled-courgettes-garlic-ricotta-agrodolce-torta-della-nonna-yotam-ottolenghi-recipes
2 Comments
Kim+Tracy
June 19, 2022 at 12:34 pmI love crab from the Eastern Shore, but I would be happy with any! This looks like a beautiful and light pasta dish to enjoy at a seaside table while looking out at the view!
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