Plant Mama's original pasta recipe.
This was a recipe idea that was a total stab in the dark and was based purely on flavour intuition, and luckily . . . it paid it off! We have served this all across Australia and it always lands so well, a taste sensation of the ultimate P Mami flavour combination: sour, crunchy, creamy and pleasure filled. You can use the balsamic onions and the pangrattato in other recipes as they make the perfect addition to most dishes. Your friends will think this is very fancy of you, but it’s very basic and will be a staple throughout the year, as none of the ingredients need to be seasonal.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 6 white or brown onions
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar (half for roasting, half in the pan)
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic (half for roasting, half for pangrattato)
- 1 × 400g packet dried pasta – best is cavatelli, penne, rigatonior fusilli
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 bunch picked thyme
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups pecorino
- a handful of rocket, rinsed
- fancy extra: a burrata ball or stracciatella
- + olive oil, salt and pepper
METHOD
- Warm your oven to 200 degrees Celsius while you thinly slice your onions and place in a bowl, coating with a few glugs of olive oil, salt and half the balsamic vinegar. Give all the ingredients a good stir, then spread across an oven tray covered in foil or baking paper. Press 3 to 4 garlic cloves among the laid-out onions. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until onions are dark and caramelised. Set aside in a bowl.
- Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Add the pasta to the water and follow the packet instructions for cooking time. Remove from the heat and strain 1 minute before al dente (firm to the bite, not soft and gluey). It should be ready just about the time your pan sauce is.
- In the meantime, dice up the remaining garlic. In a fry pan on medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil, the garlic and bread crumbs and cook for the next 4 to 6 minutes, moving the breadcrumbs around with a wooden spoon so they don’t burn. When the breadcrumbs have turned a golden brown, add in the diced thyme, salt and pepper and some more olive oil, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a fry pan on medium heat add butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, the cooked onions and the remaining vinegar and stir together. Add the semi-cooked pasta to the fry pan with the onions and mix in ½ to ¾ cup of the pasta water in small doses, adjusting as you stir until the sauce is loose but not runny.
- Simmer until the pasta is al dente (about a minute). Add half the pecorino, salt and pepper and mix all together, then remove from heat and place in a large bowl, stirring through half the breadcrumbs.
- To plate it up, top with the remaining breadcrumbs, pecorino and a handful of rocket. Fancy dollops of stracciatella or burrata ball can be added here too. YUMBO, YUMBO! Enjoy, enjoy!
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