Pasta #2 black spaghetti and crab.

Spaghetti is a pretty classic pasta shape, pretty much a regularly member of the household, the one we all know by name.  Spaghetti comes from 'spago'; the diminutive form meaning string or twine (a name that really requires no explanation).  Commonplace or not, Spaghetti should not be taken for granted, it is simple, delicious and perfect looking.  (In fact Spaghetti is so loved in this house that the guinea-pig was named in honour of it)!

This recipe uses black pasta; pasta dyed with squid ink which gives the pasta a delicate fishy flavour but a plain pasta would be just as tasty.

Again this is another pasta recipe where the sauce takes pretty much as long as the pasta takes to cook!

Ingredients (serves 2 generously)

200g of Spaghetti (or 2-3 nests if using fresh pasta)
The contents of one picked crab (or you can pick it yourself if you're feeling brave)
2 garlic cloves
1 chili
a good bunch of parsley
100 ml of white wine
2 tbsp of creme fraiche (or cream for the decadent)
pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper
1/2 a lemon

Put water on to boil for the pasta.  When the water is boiling add the pasta and cook for a minute less than the packet instructions suggest, so the pasta is left slightly al dente.

Finely chop the garlic and the chili and fry till the garlic nearly burns in a good glug of olive oil.  Add the crab meat and mash to make a paste.  Allow to fry together for a minute before adding the white wine.  Whilst this is simmering, chop up the parsley and stir into the crab meat mixture (leaving a little aside to scatter on the pasta at the end).  Take the pan off the heat and stir in the creme fraiche.

Once the pasta is drained, tip it into the frying pan with crab sauce and mix it all up together.  Add salt and black pepper to taste and dish up.  Scatter over the rest of the parsley and serve with slices of lemon (I like mine a lot more lemony than others - personal lemon discretion is the key for this dish)!



Enjoy with a glass of white wine (unless you're pregnant, in which case stare enviously at the white wine your partner drinks whilst you begrudgingly drink water).

The essence of summer - Linguine and my favourite (easy peasy) fresh tomato pesto

As I am sure I have mentioned on countless occasions, my family make pasta for a living.  They make pasta, I eat pasta, it is a pretty sweet deal.  In fact I eat pasta a lot - Sophia Loren's quote 'everything you see, I owe to Spagetti' sums me up nicely (but perhaps without the glamour and incredible cleavage)!  
But I realised that, despite cooking pasta several times a week, I have taken it for granted.  The dishes never get photographed and they certainly don't get celebrated.  So I am going to attempt to rectify this - in the manner of Elise Cripe and her 40 Pizza Project - I want to embrace a year of pastas.  Forty different pasta dishes is really just the dream goal!



Pasta Number 1: Fresh tomatoes and Linguine

I love Linguine.  It is the one kind of pasta you are guaranteed to find in this house any time day or night.  It is like the handyman of the pasta world, there are few things it cannot do.  Linguine is the length of Spaghetti but is slightly flattened giving it an elliptical shape so sauce clings more readily to it and making it peasy to twizzle onto your fork.  The name Linguine actually means little tongues although in reality I feel the length would be alarming for a tongue. 

During the Summer months my favourite way to eat pasta is with a fresh tomato sauce and these pasta tongues are just perfect for slipping around in a mix of fragrant tomato and olive oil (although a Pappardelle or Rigatone wouldn't be bad either).

The best bit of this pasta dish?  The sauce takes as long to prepare as the pasta takes to cook!

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

Linguine pasta (2-3 nests)

Fresh tomatoes; either a couple big beef tomatoes or 5-6 if they are a smaller salad variety.   (The tastiness of the sauce depend  wholly on the quality of the tomatoes; good tomatoes are typically rich in colour and have a strong smell)

A handful of fresh basil

A big fat clove of garlic or two smaller ones

Olive oil

A splash of balsamic vinegar

Salt to taste

Fresh pecorino or parmesan cheese to serve

Put a pan of water on to boil.  Whilst waiting for the water to boil, using a blender or a food processor first blend the garlic down, then add the tomatoes, the basil and the splash of balsamic vinegar and blend until soupy.  Add a generous glug or two of olive oil and salt to taste. 

When the water is boiling chuck in the pasta and cook according to the packet or for three minutes if using fresh pasta.  Once cooked, drain well then pour the tomato sauce on and quickly dish up.  Grate cheese liberally all over!



Best enjoyed outside :)