I love pasta. And I love it even more if the sauce is a 'no-cooking' one. Caught this on 'Nigellissima' on Fox Traveller last week. The original called for Anchovies and capers but i skipped the former and substituted the latter with tender mangoes pickled in brine. Also I substituted 'Fusilli Lunghi' with my normal Borges Spaghetti.
Read on for the recipe:
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Ingredients - 100 gms spaghetti, 1 very ripe tomato, 7-8 blanched almonds, 2 soaked tsp raisins, 2 peeled garlic flakes, 2 tender pickled mangoes, 2 tsp olive oil, salt for boiling the pasta, fresh basil leaves for the garnish.
Cooking - Boil a large quantity of water in a open mouthed vessel. Add loads of salt to it when it starts boiling ( It should taste 'like the sea' as mentioned in some website whose name I have forgotten ).
Add the spaghetti and cook it till al-dente ( tender but still with a bite ).
Transfer the tomato, raisins, almonds, garlic flakes, pickled mangoes and olive oil to a mixer jar. Grind into a little coarse paste. (I ended up with a little smooth than intended)
Add 2-3 tsp of the boiling pasta water to the grinder jar and pulse 2-3 times.
Drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the sauce on top of it and toss everything together. Strew the basil on top and dig in. (Perfect for one of those lazy days....which are beginning to get just too frequent in my case)
Read on for the recipe:
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Ingredients - 100 gms spaghetti, 1 very ripe tomato, 7-8 blanched almonds, 2 soaked tsp raisins, 2 peeled garlic flakes, 2 tender pickled mangoes, 2 tsp olive oil, salt for boiling the pasta, fresh basil leaves for the garnish.
Cooking - Boil a large quantity of water in a open mouthed vessel. Add loads of salt to it when it starts boiling ( It should taste 'like the sea' as mentioned in some website whose name I have forgotten ).
Add the spaghetti and cook it till al-dente ( tender but still with a bite ).
Transfer the tomato, raisins, almonds, garlic flakes, pickled mangoes and olive oil to a mixer jar. Grind into a little coarse paste. (I ended up with a little smooth than intended)
Add 2-3 tsp of the boiling pasta water to the grinder jar and pulse 2-3 times.
Drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the sauce on top of it and toss everything together. Strew the basil on top and dig in. (Perfect for one of those lazy days....which are beginning to get just too frequent in my case)