TWO WAYTS WITH ORECCHIETTE "LITTLE EARS' PASTA
Even the most ardent of pasta lovers (like my family and me) can easily get stuck in a cycle of spaghetti, penne and macaroni, but while other shapes don’t taste any different, they are an easy way of adding a bit of fun to a dish. Orecchiette means “little ears”, and their distinctive shape makes them a perfect vehicle for many kinds of sauces and broths. Here’s two very different, equally delicious, ways of using them.
ORECCHITTE WIH EGGPLANT. ZUCCHINI AND BREADCRUMBS
The following – eggplant, zucchini, olives, mint, saffron and preserved lemons served with orecchiette and fried crumbs – is a combination I am partial to.
Culinary historian Giuliano Bugialli says of using fried breadcrumbs on pasta: “…these played an enormous role in medieval cooking and continue to be used as an ingredient in some Italian dishes… Pasta sauced with oil and breadcrumbs… is probably as old and as fundamental a combination as pasta and garlic.” It may seem strange to people raised on the idea that there only needs to be one carbohydrate in a meal, but the crumbs are an economical way to add savour and crunch to a pasta dish without using expensive cheese. I use the whole of the lemon, which is salty, so be careful when adding salt. This dish is also good served with crumbled feta.
8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs, made by processing dayold white sourdough bread in a food processor or ripping it into tiny pieces Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 small zucchini, sliced 1cm thick
1 eggplant, cut into 2cm dice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 preserved lemon (I used the flesh as well as the peel), cut into 1cm dice
1 cup pitted black olives (I used kalamatas)
Large pinch of saffron threads, soaked for 20 minutes in 50ml boiling water, soaking water reserved
400g orecchiette
¾ cup torn-up mint leaves
Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan over moderate heat and add the breadcrumbs. Season well. Gently fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are brown and crisp. Remove and reserve.
Put a large frying pan over moderate heat and add the remaining oil, the zucchini, eggplant, garlic, lemon, olives and the saffron with its soaking water. Mix well, cover and cook for 10 minutes until the
vegetables are soft.
Meanwhile, cook the orecchiette in plenty of well-salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and place in a large, warm serving bowl.
Uncover the eggplant mixture and stir in the mint. Taste and season.
Add the eggplant mixture to the orecchiette and mix well. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and serve.