Rachel Roddy’s recipes for store-cupboard spaghetti | Pasta

“I make your coat-on almond biscuits most weeks,” a girl informed me within the homeware division of John Lewis on Oxford Road, London, a number of months in the past. She went on to say that she additionally attaches the “coat-on” expression to any dish she will get going as quickly as she walks by means of the door (and earlier than she takes off her coat and has a pee), so thinks of me when she makes coat-on lentils, coat-on rice and leeks, coat-on tomato sauce, coat-on couscous with roast greens. As a lot as I needed to maintain the praise to myself and never share it, I did remind her that I had borrowed the expression from Nigella Lawson and her e book The way to Eat, to which the girl replied: “What a beneficiant meals author you’re.” I thanked her again, complimented her on her blue jacket, then bounced all the way in which to the money desk to pay for the dishcloths and potato peeler, after which all alongside Oxford Road.If I ever see that girl once more, I want to inform her that, since our assembly, I’ve additionally been attaching the prefix “coat-on” to varied dishes and actions, not least boiling the kettle to jumpstart the water for coat-on spaghetti. Coincidentally, it’s 20 years since I moved to Rome; 19 and a half years since Vincenzo and I first argued about easy methods to prepare dinner pasta (him telling me I used too little water and salt, and took an excessive amount of time; me telling him he was supercilious and boring); and 10 years since I first wrote about spaghetti for this column. Some issues have modified, others haven’t (salt), and I now have a medium-sized repertoire of coat-on spaghettis.The primary of those speedy, coat-on favourites is spaghetti with a fast tomato, garlic and chilli sauce. It’s described by a Neapolitan buddy as a combination between a fast tomato sauce (AKA sciue sciue, pronounced “shway shway” and which means “hurry hurry’’) and that store-cupboard saviour spaghetti with garlic, chilli and olive oil (aglio, olio e peperoncino, or AOP). Like spaghetti AOP, spaghetti with fast tomato, garlic and chilli sauce isn’t a lot a sauce however a flavourful and quick coating for the skinny strings of pasta. It is usually a condiment by which the olive oil performs a elementary position, so use the very best you’ve, and don’t skimp.I’ve prompt slicing the garlic, however if you’d like a milder flavour, crush the cloves so that they break however stay complete. In case you want a extra intense flavour, chop the cloves, whereas, for probably the most intense flavour of all, squash the cloves with the aspect of a knife till they cut back to a paste.The second coat-on recipe is a store-cupboard model of the Sicilian dish pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines and wild fennel), which additionally showcases the ability (culinary, biblical, or each) of tinned sardines: a small tin or two packs an intensely flavoured punch and goes a good distance. If you could find fennel fronds or dill, nice, in any other case parsley works effectively because the inexperienced natural ingredient. Once more, what you make right here isn’t a lot a sauce as a tasty condiment that coats the strands of spaghetti.Spaghetti with fast tomato, garlic and chilli sauceTinned plum tomatoes assist the “hurry”, in fact, whereas recent tomatoes require a bit extra time and peeling, in any other case, the skins curl into exhausting bits when the flesh is mashed to a tender pulp. Use your best-tasting olive oil – and don’t skimp: it’s the important ingredient.Prep 5 minCook 10 minServes 4Salt450g spaghetti6-8 tbsp olive oil2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced3 complete, peeled plum tomatoes, tinned or recent and peeled 1 tsp crimson chill flakes1 handful basil leavesBring a pan of water to a boil, add some salt, then prepare dinner the spaghetti based on the packet directions, till al dente.In the meantime, in a big frying pan, gently heat the olive oil and garlic, so the garlic turns into tender and aromatic, then add the tomatoes, chilli and a pinch of salt, and fry gently, mashing the tomatoes with the again of a fork or potato masher, so the flesh breaks down into a country sauce – it will take about 4 minutes on a vigorous warmth. (If the sauce is prepared earlier than the pasta, pull the pan off the warmth, then return it simply earlier than including the spaghetti.)As soon as the spaghetti is al dente, use a forked spoon or spider sieve to carry it instantly into the tomato pan, full with the residual cooking water clinging to it, then toss very vigorously, ripping within the basil leaves as you achieve this. Serve directly.Spaghetti with tinned sardines, anchovy, capers, chilli and lemonRachel Roddy’s spaghetti with tinned sardines, anchovy, capers, chilli and lemon.Attempt to discover sardines packed in olive oil, by which case you possibly can cut back the quantity of olive oil listed under. The identical guidelines apply to the garlic on this recipe as within the final, whereas the lemon zest is essential – it’s lifting and sharpening!Prep 5 minCook 10 minServes 4450g spaghettiSalt6 tbsp olive oil, or 3 tbsp in case your sardines are packed in olive oil)1 crimson onion, peeled and finely sliced1 x 120g tin sardines, drained – if the sardines are packed in olive oil, reserve it for the sauce2 anchovies1 tbsp small capers1 tsp crimson chilli flakes1 handful minced parsleyZest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus a squeeze of juiceBring a pan of water to a boil for the spaghetti, season with salt, then add the pasta and prepare dinner based on packet directions, till al dente.In the meantime, in a big frying pan, gently heat the oil, together with the olive oil from the sardine tin, for those who’ve bought that, then add the onion and a small pinch of salt, and prepare dinner till the onion turns tender and aromatic. Add the sardines, anchovies, capers and chilli, and fry gently, mashing the fish right into a tender, oily mush with the again of a fork. (If the sauce is prepared earlier than the pasta, take it off the warmth, then return to the flame simply earlier than including the spaghetti.)As soon as the spaghetti is al dente, use a forked spoon or spider sieve to carry it, full with the residual cooking water clinging to it, instantly into the sardine pan, and toss very vigorously, including the parsley, lemon zest and some drops of lemon juice to style as you achieve this.