This Week's Meals (4/4): Spaghetti all’Assassina
According to Pasta Grammar, this doesn't mean "Assasin's Spaghetti" as much as it means "Killer Spaghetti." AND HO BOY DOES THIS LIVE UP TO THE NAME. This is the best spaghetti dish I've ever had.
What's neat about this dish is that you don't boil the spaghetti in water. You saute it in the sauce itself, making for an incredibly powerful tomato taste. Because of that, the pasta isn't like boiled spaghetti, but has this kind of al-dente chew to it and even a crispyness to some strands. But not "raw pasta" crispyness, but a "cooked" crispyness to it.
This is absolutely fantastic.
# Spaghetti all’Assassina
Pasta Grammar
1.125 cup pure tomato purée (avoid anything with added salt or flavor)
10.0 tbsp tomato paste
Salt (to taste)
4.0 tbsp olive oil (plus some extra for drizzling)
2.0 cloves garlic
Red chili pepper flakes (to taste)
7.0 oz spaghetti
3.0 cups water
1 - Fill a saucepan with the water.
2 - Add about 1/10th of tomato purée (save the rest for later) and the tomato paste and bring to a simmer.
3 - Salt the broth to taste.
4 - In a large, cast iron skillet, add the olive oil and a pinch of chili pepper flakes or fresh chili peppers to taste.
5 - Peel the garlic cloves. Add one whole into the pan; dice the other and add this as well.
6 - Heat the pan over high heat until the garlic sizzles.
7 - When it does, pour in the remaining tomato purée and quickly spread it to cover the pan evenly.
8 - Lay the spaghetti down in the center of the pan, and press it out as much as possible into a thin, even layer. The goal is to try and have as much of the spaghetti as possible in contact with the tomato sauce.
9 - Let the tomato sauce completely thicken and begin to burn (a little bit). The pasta touching the pan needs to acquire a some crispy caramelization.
10 - When it does, use a spatula to gently flip it so that the other side can crisp up a little bit as well. Remember that it’s actually the residue of the tomato sauce that’s “burning” so try to ensure that the pasta has an even coating of it. Completely dry pasta won’t crisp.
11 - When both sides are slightly burnt, add one ladleful of hot tomato broth into the pan. Let the liquid completely boil off; you’ll be left with more tomato residue.
12 - Once again, let the pasta sit untouched until the side touching the pan has gotten a little crispy again.
13 - At this point the spaghetti will have softened slightly. Stir the pasta around, flatten it down again, and add another ladle of broth.
14 - This process repeats until the pasta is cooked al dente to your taste. Add broth, let the liquid cook off, leave the pasta alone to crisp a little bit, stir it together, flatten it out, repeat.
15 - Once the pasta has cooked to your liking, let it crisp up at the end as much as you like. Serve immediately, topped with a drizzle of olive oil.
