The Ottolenghi Test Kitchen’s Fried Tagliatelle, Chickpeas and Smoky Tomato Oil
Frying the tagliatelle before cooking adds a depth of flavour to this simple chickpea pasta, which is elevated with a simple smoky tomato oil.
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Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things
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Introduction
Two pantry staples – chickpeas and pasta – come together to give you this hearty vegan main. Frying the pasta nests before cooking them gives you plenty of texture, even as the pasta softens and releases its starches into the chickpea water. Feel free to play around with the smoky tomato oil, adding different chillies or spices such as cumin or coriander seeds. Make sure you use dried chickpeas here and not tinned ones, as their cooking liquid provides the flavourful base for this sauce. Just be sure to plan ahead by soaking your chickpeas overnight.
Ingredients
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 6 (roughly 190g) | dried tagliatelle nest |
| 200g | dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water and ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda |
| ½ tsp | bicarbonate of soda, for cooking |
| 2 | garlic cloves, peeled and crushed |
| 2 | lemons, 1 halved and the other cut into 4 wedges to serve |
| 1 tbsp | roughly chopped parsley |
| For the smoky tomato oil: | |
|---|---|
| 250g | datterini or cherry tomatoes |
| 2½ tsp | chipotle chilli flakes |
| 1½ tsp | paprika |
| 1 tbsp | tomato paste |
| 105ml | olive oil |
| salt |
Method
Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 1 hour 10 minutes, Soaking time: overnight
First, make the smoky tomato oil. Place a medium sauté pan on a high heat. Once hot, add the tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes, shaking the pan as necessary, until charred on the outside but still retaining their shape. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Add everything else plus ½ teaspoon of salt and return to a medium-low heat. Heat gently for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until the mixture just bubbles. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse while you continue with the recipe.
Put the oil into a large, high-sided sauté pan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the tagliatelle nests and cook for 1½–2 minutes on each side, or until nicely golden (don’t worry if they don’t colour all over). Set the tagliatelle aside and rinse out the pan.
Drain the chickpeas and put them into the same pan along with 1 litre of water and the bicarbonate of soda. Return the pan to a medium-high heat and bring to the boil, skimming the scum from the top as needed. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover with the lid and cook for about 15 minutes, then add 1½ teaspoons of salt. Test the chickpeas at the 10-minute mark; they should be cooked but still retain their shape – if not, add another 5–10 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Stir in the garlic, then nestle in the fried tagliatelle nests, replace the lid and cook for 7–10 minutes, or until al dente. Remove the lid and, without stirring, squeeze over the juice of the lemon halves.
Spoon over the smoky oil, sprinkle with the parsley and serve directly from the pan, making sure to squeeze over the extra lemon wedges when you’re serving.
Smoky tomato oil:
– Keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
– Jazz up hummus with these smoky tomatoes; they’re so good to scoop and eat with bread.
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