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Pasta Con La Bottarga

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Makes 4 to 5 servings 1x

Time 30 minutes

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • Salt as needed
  • 1 bag linguine Faella
  • 2 ounces whole mullet bottarga (half the 4-ounce package), plus more for serving
  • 6 tablespoons Quinta Luna extra virgin olive oil, plus more if necessary
  • Zest from 1 to 2 lemons (to taste)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon chili peppers (or to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, optional

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel away the outer layer of the bottarga (as you would sausage casing) and finely grate.

2. Put the bottarga in a serving bowl with the olive oil, capers, lemon juice and zest, garlic, parsley, and chili pepper. Stir until the ingredients form a sauce.

3. Cook the pasta until it is tender but not mushy; start tasting after 5 minutes. When it’s done, scoop out and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.

4. Put the pasta in the serving bowl and toss to combine. To make the sauce creamier, add some of the pasta water, a teaspoon at a time, and a splash more olive oil, and continue stirring. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately, with a sprinkle of freshly grated bottarga on top, if you’d like.

— Recipe adapted from Gustiamo