
We had planned to have a very simple dinner last night: burrata, peaches, olive oil, basil, fresh bread. But the wind was howling outside, the showers spritzing the balcony, and though it was far from freezing, we felt too chilly to entertain a cold supper. So I took a look in our pantry for a quick solution. There was an Ottolenghi recipe in the Guardian recently for a tomato, miso & oregano pasta. I thought it was nice, not great, but loved the idea of pairing miso with tomato, so I used it as inspiration. This is a very simple pasta, ready in 30 mins. My favourite kind of dinner. Make sure to have plenty of Parmesan grated on top for the ultimate savoury experience.
Tomato, miso & crème fraiche spaghettini
Makes at least 4 generous portions
1 medium onion, diced
5 fat garlic cloves, grated finely on a microplane or crushed
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup white miso (60ish ml)
400 g can whole plum tomatoes (I use Mutti)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp crème fraiche
500 g pack of spaghettini
Gently sauté the onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the garlic. Sauté until the onion is soft. Add the miso and mix it in, cooking for a few mins longer. The miso doesn’t dissolve, so don’t worry if it seems sticky and a bit messy.
Add the tomatoes and break them up with the back of a wooden spoon or mash them (wear an apron!). Add a generous amount of black pepper, I used 25 grinds worth. Add the sugar and stir together. Taste to see if you need to add salt. I added a 1/4 tsp at this point, but you might find it salty enough already. Allow to simmer while you prepare the pasta.
Put a large pot of water on to boil, adding 10 g of salt for every litre of water. I used 3 L and 30 g salt. Once the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
Allow the sauce to cook until it reduces down. You want it to have thickened before adding the crème fraiche. Once reduced, remove from heat and stir in the crème fraiche.
With a minute or two to go, reserve a 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and stir into the sauce. Drain the pasta and add back into the pot. Add the sauce, stir in and serve immediately with plenty of grated Parmesan.