Category: Pasta

Linguine. nero di seppia

Went to the market today and saw there were a lot of cuttlefish! Must be harvest season. Unfortunately most were alout of our price range (the ones we saw were huge; probably for 6-8 people). Instead we found this small one that has passed already, decent size for 2 people (even 3!). Sadly, it was cut open already and ink sac was harvested. As a result, it went for HKD30 only, which is probably half its usual price. Good thing we had backup ink at home (the store-bought kind). This way of cooking this dish is from the South, where plenty of tomato is added, rather than just the ink. The result is less “pitch black”, but more tasty in our opinion.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

160g pasta
1 small cuttlefish
1 ink sac (either together with the cuttlefish, or separately bought)
2 small shallots
1/2 garlic clove
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 cherry tomatoes
1 bay leaf
100g tomato passata
1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
1/2 glass white wine
Bunch of parsley

Method:

1. Peel and slice shallots
2. Peel garlic but do not slice
3. Combine shallots and garlic in pan with plenty of olive oil, and infuse on low heat while you clean the cuttlefish
4. Give the cuttlefish a good rinse
5. Feel the side the bone is in, and break the skin covering the bone, then remove the bone
6. Detach the body from the innards
7. Tear off skin to reveal the two halves of the body
8. Tear off the fins, de-skin
9. Extract the ink sac (if still attached); set aside in a bowl
10. Extract the yellow innards and set aside in another bowl
11. Separate and reserve the remaining meat surrounding the roe
12. Separate off tentacles (short + long)
13. Trim the middle section with eyes and beak intact
14. If feeling extra-brave, cut open the eye membrane and pop out the eye, as well push out the beak, so that the meat around the eyes can also be used; otherwise, just discard this whole middle section
15. Scrape away any skin that remains on the body or fins
16. You should be left with the piece as pictured
17. Slice into small pieces and add to the pan
18. Turn up the heat and roast the cuttlefish meat with a bit of extra salt
19. Remove garlic if starting to burn; otherwise, leave in
20. Deglaze bottom of pan with white wine
21. Mix the ink, the tomato passata, tomato concentrate, and some water together with the roe, and add to the pan
22. Add bay leaf, parsley stalks (chopped) and cherry tomatoes (halved) and simmer for 20 mins to soften the cuttlefish and thicken the sauce
23. Meanwhile, boil pasta in salted water
24. Once almost al dente, but still a touch raw in the centre, add pasta to the pan
25. Add several ladles of pasta water, and cook on medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes until liquids are absorbed and pasta is well coated with ink
26. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves and serve

Chicken Parm

We had guests over with kids, immediately this dish came to mind. There isn’t a single kid who does not like tomato pasta. For the adults, the breaded and cheesy chicken adds a layer of enjoyment. Use tomato passata for the marinara sauce, or replace with your own slow-cooked sugo if available. Be sure to wash your hands after handling the chicken.

Serves 5

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

350g pasta (70g per person)
2 chicken breast
1 jar tomato passata
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
Flour, egg wash, bread crumbs
Dried oregano
Provolone cheese
Vegetable oil for shallow-frying

Method:

1. Butterfly chicken breasts and pat dry
2. Place between two pieces of kitchen towel, and roll flat with a rolling pin
3. Heat oil to around 160’c (medium sizzle when chicken placed within)
4. Set up flour, egg wash, and breadcrumbs station
5. Salt the flour and breadcrumbs
6. Add black pepper to the breadcrumbs
7. Dip chicken in flour, egg, flour, shaking any excess before each subsequent step
8. Shallow-fry in 2cm oil until golden
9. Preheat oven to 220’c
10 Prepare marinara sauce by mixing passata with sugar oregano, season to taste
11. Once chicken is crispy, bake with a few spoonfuls of the marinara sauce and the cheese on top for 10 minutes until cheese is melted
12. Meanwhile, boil pasta in salted water, then mix with marinara sauce until well coated and stained in red
13. Serve by sliding baked chicken pieces on top of pasta
14. Garnish with more dried oregano, or finely chopped parsley

Orecchiette with Garlic and Kale

Lie back, put on some music, and enjoy the oddly therapeutic effect pasta making! The sauce we’ve chosen is an olive oil-based one, with strong notes of garlic balanced by the bitterness of dark greens. A Sunday affair. ⠀

Makes 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

2 cupped handfuls of semolina flour (or just normal flour)
Water, added bit by bit
Large bunch of kale
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
Chili pepper flakes
Olive oil
Grated pecorino

Method:

1. In a large pot or bowl, pour flour and make a well in the middle
2. Gradually pour water in the well while mixing with the fingers of your other hand
3. Once dough starts to form, knead until velvety smooth around 10 minutes
4. Shape into a smooth ball and rest for 15 minutes, covered by an upside-down pot
5. While the dough is resting, finely chop kale
6. Chop onion into thin strips, and garlic into a fine mince
7. Cook onions in olive oil until softened
8. Add garlic, kale, pepperoncino, salt, and black pepper and mix well
9. Turn off the flame; ignore the sauce until pasta shapes is ready
10. Cut pasta dough into tranches, then strips
11. Roll each strip out to even strands
12. Using a serrated knife, cut a piece of dough and pull back toward you
13. Turn the dough outwards onto your thumb so that the rough edge created by the serrated edge of the knife is on the convex side of the pasta shape
14. Put on some music and repeat until dough is used up
15. If you have time, dry under a fan for 2 hours, or air-dry for 3-4 hours, so that the pasta holds its shape after boiling
16. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil
17. Add pasta into the water and boil until pieces float; around 2 minutes
18. Add pasta into the sauce, with at least a few ladles of cooking water
19. Toss and mix well, until a gooey sauce forms
20. Serve with grated pecorino cheese

Spaghetti with Romanesco

Romanesco broccoli, or simply romanesco, is a super veg that is starting to be grown locally in HK. Looks super awesome and has a crisp but reserved taste that combines the best of broccoli and cauliflower. Like its cousins, it’s outer leaves are super flavourful and not to be thrown away.

Serves 6

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

240g spaghetti
Florets of 1/2 head of romanesco
2 outer leaves of romanesco
2 garlic cloves
Dried chili flakes
Olive oil
Grated pecorino

Method:

1. Steam romanesco florets with small pinch of salt, for around 15 minutes
2. Finely chop; set aside
3. Finely chop the outer leaves – these add colour as well as flavour; set aside
4. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil
5. Add pasta to the water and maintain an active boil
6. In a separate pan of olive oil, brown garlic cloves on both sides
7. Add chili flakes, chopped leaves, and chopped florets to to soak in flavours – on low heat, keeping ingredients separate
8. Remove everything from pan except the florets
9. Spread florets out and switch to a high heat to toast the bottom until slightly burnt, while the top remains light and soft
10. Season; set aside
11. Slice the browned garlic into strips
12. Add 3-4 ladles of pasta water to the pan, which should still have some oil in it
13. Reduce volume on high heat until a creamy sauce forms
14. The pasta should be almost ready by now, but still very firm to the bite
15. Transfer pasta to the pasta water sauce and continue to mix and throw around until well covered with the creaminess of the cooking sauce
16. Stir in toasted florets, garlic strips, and chopped outer leaves
17. Plate
18. Add remaining sauce to the centre of each pasta nest
19. Finish with grated pecorino

Eggplant and Red Pepper LASAGNA

Serves 6

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

18 lasagne sheets
1 eggplant
1 red pepper
2 garlic cloves
800g pelati
Dark greens, such as romanesco or cauliflower leaves
Basil
Bechemel sauce (See below)
Mozzarella
Grated parmiggiano

Method:

Make ahead of time:

1. Slice eggplants into strips
2. Arrange red pepper and eggplant strips on baking tray
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season
4. Roast in oven until fragrant
5. Keep red pepper whole and cut into strips only on the day, so as to preserve moisture within
6. Make tomato sauce by boiling garlic cloves, olive oil, and canned tomatoes on low heat, around 45 minutes, until slightly sweet; break apart tomatoes with fork


On the day:

1. Preheat oven to 190’C
2. Make bechemel sauce by whisking butter and flour on low heat until a roux is formed, then add milk gradually while stirring
3. Chop up dark greens and stir into tomato sauce
4. Boil 3 sheets lasagne until slightly pliable, around 2 minutes
5. Line bottom of baking tray with a few spoons of bechemel sauce
6. Line tray with the 3 sheets of lasagne
7. Put in 3 new sheets to boil in the meantime
8. Layer on tomato sauce, eggplant, pepper, bechemel, mozzarella, and a twist of black pepper
9. Repeat steps 6-8 for a total of 5 layers (15 sheets)
10. In one of the layers, add a few leaves of basil with a splash of olive oil
11. Finish the pie with a sixth layer of lasagne sheets, more tomato sauce than usual, mozzarella, and a splash of olive oil
12. Bake for around 40 minutes, until cheese on top has browned and edges have crisped
13. To serve, cut into slices, then sprinkle over grated parmiggiano for balance

spaghetti with clams and chinese bottarga

Dried fish roe (烏魚子，or 魚春乾) is the star of any seafood market in Hong Kong. Add them to Cantonese stir-fry, or barbecue. Here, it works as a direct substitute of dried mullet roe (bottarga) used in Italy. It costs around HKD95 for a year’s worth of supply. Take out a piece at a time and freeze the rest.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

250g high-quality spaghetti
1 catty (around 600g) fresh clams
1/3 piece dried yellow croaker roe (黃花魚春乾, see note)
2 garlic cloves
Fish stock
Prawn stock
Dry white wine
1 chili
1/2 tomato
1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
Olive oil
Coriander

Method:

1. Wash and soak clams in cold tap water for 1 hour
2. In a medium pot, infuse one garlic clove, chili, tomato (diced) and some coriander stalks in olive oil on low heat
3. Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of water to the boil
4. Add salt to water until it has the saltiness of a light soup
5. Add pasta to the water and maintain the boil
6. In a large frying pan, add remaining garlic clove, olive oil, a ladle of fish stock, a ladle of prawn stock, and 2 ladles of pasta water (see laksa post on broths)
7. Bring liquids to an active boil until volume reduces by half
8. The chili infusion should be ready by now
9. Remove clams from water and add them to the infusion
10. Add half a glass of white wine and turn up the heat to high
11. Shake and cook clams for about 4 minutes, until clams have fully opened; discard unopened clams
12. The spaghetti should be almost done by now but still a little hard in the centre
13. Transfer spaghetti to the stock
14. Add tomato concentrate for colour, and actively stir on reasonably high heat until liquids thicken to a very creamy sauce; remove from flame
14. Deshell half the clams and mix into the pasta
15. Add a ladle of the clam cooking juice for a hint of acidity
16. Add the softened tomato pieces from the clam juice for extra texture and colour
17. Plate the pasta
18. Decorate plate with the remaining clams, shell-on
19. Generously grate bottarga over pasta
20. Spoon over any remaining pasta sauce
21. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil
22. Garnish and serve