Live the Live ™

Bottarga is a classic Italian ingredient. It’s a fish roe pouch–usually from grey mullet, sometimes tuna–that has been salted, cured, and dried. If you’re a fan of anchovies or squid ink, you’ll enjoy the softer expression of salty fishiness that bottarga offers.

Very often, bottarga comes in a chunk, and you have to grate it yourself. But I received a packet of already grated bottarga as a gift, and I went online to find the most simple preparation I could find to highlight the flavors, not hide them.

The ingredients sounded perfect, and it didn’t hurt that I had them all at home: pasta, olive oil, garlic, lemon, parsley, red pepper flakes, and of course, the bottarga.

This recipe is technically 3 servings, but I ate the whole darn thing the first time I made it!

It doesn’t hurt to have a small kitchen digital scale for this, since measurements are most accurate in grams.

1 oz (30g) grated bottarga
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
Red pepper flakes, a large pinch
Kosher salt
6 oz (170g) spaghetti or other long pasta
1/4 cup (8g) loosely packed parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons (8ml) fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon

Grate the bottarga if you bought it as a lobe, and set it aside.

In a large skillet, combine the oil and garlic. Cook over medium heat, turning the garlic occasionally, until it’s deep brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the garlic from the skillet and discard it. (Or eat it!)

Add the red pepper flakes and continue to cook, stirring for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Remove the skillet from the heat and add all of the grated bottarga, and stir it until it’s well combined with the olive oil.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to just before al dente. You want it firm. Just before the pasta is ready, transfer 1/4 cup of the pasta water to the skillet with the olive oil/bottarga mixture and stir it to combine.

Using tongs, transfer the pasta to the skillet.

Rapidly stir the pasta in the skillet until it has mixed with the olive oil mixture and it has emulsified into a nice sauce. Add more pasta water if needed.

Add the parsley, lemon juice and zest, and stir to combine. Season with salt to taste.