Corner shop pasta

Easy bright food for inbetween days

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Hello,

I hope it’s been the kind of Christmas you wanted it to be.

I’m keeping it short and sweet this week. But I wanted you to have this recipe for the days in-between. This pasta fulfils a lot of the things I need in these rare, precious and lingering days.

It’s as quick and easy as recipes come and does not ask you to turn on an oven - I’m guessing you might have already cooked a lot. It uses up a few of the things you might have brought for the holidays and not used up. And if your cupboards are bare after a trip away, most of the ingredients can be picked up at your corner shop.

I think of it as a festive edition of the classic aglio, olio e pepperoncino (garlic, oil and chilli) pasta. A version of this has been on repeat in my house for most of the last 25 years. Like almost all the pastas I make regularly, this has a sauce that comes together in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. This uses both orange and lemon for peak citrus season feeling, chilli for some attitude and winter herbs as well lots of butter, parm and black pepper.

It’s pasta, with bright flavours, which I hope will wake you from your festive food slumber.

Enjoy these days,

With love,

Anna x

Corner shop pasta

Any pasta will work here but I like a wide noodle like pappardelle or tagilatelle best. Any winter herb will work here. If you only have orange or lemon just use one or the other. The chilli can be amped up to the level you like, I’ve kept it mellow with one chilli. The trick to this sauce is using the pasta cooking water with some parmesan to make a creamy sauce in the pan with the pasta so make sure you remember to save some pasta water when you drain the pasta.

Serves 4

500g good quality pasta (I used pappardelle)
1 tablespoon of good olive oil
50g of organic salted butter
2 heaped tablespoons of small capers
1 red chilli, finely sliced
The zest of 1 lemon, peeled in strips with a speed peeler
The zest of 1 clementine, peeled in strips with a speed peeler
A few sprigs of sage and/or thyme
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
20g freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta

Prepare, chop, peel and pick all of your flavourings as I describe above and bring them close to the hob so they are ready to add to the pan. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil and add the 500g of pasta.

Fry the flavourings

Heat a good drizzle of olive oil and the 50g butter in a pan. Once butter is melted and sizzling, add 2 tablespoons of capers, one sliced red chilli, the strips of zest from the lemon and clementine and the leaves from the sprigs of sage and thyme. Once the herbs have crisped up, add the garlic for the last couple of minutes. Turn the pan off until the pasta is ready.

Make the creamy pan sauce

If you have turned it off, turn the pan back on and get it warm. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan with the capers and citrus and mix. Add a ladle of the hot pasta cooking water and the grated (20g) of parmesan to the pan and stir to bring the water, flavourings and cheese together to a creamy sauce adding more water if it looks too dry. You are after a a thick creamy-like sauce that coats the pasta, bear in mind that it will thicken as it cools. Finish with lots of black pepper and more parmesan.

Ahead, leftovers, storage

Ahead - You can prep and fry off the flavourings ahead and reheat when you are ready to eat but its so quick I would not bother to myself.

Storage - I think this is best eaten straight away but if you have leftovers it will be ok in the fridge for up to 3 days, reheat in a pan with a splash of water and a little more butter or olive oil until piping hot.