Spaghetti with bottarga sauce
Ciccio Sultano's spaghetti with bottarga sauce recipe offers a snapshot of Sicilian history, with an array of spices and nuts first brought to the island by North African invaders. Bottarga is a crucial ingredient to southern Italian cooking, and Ciccio uses plenty here to make the most of that punchy seafood flavour.
Ingredients
Grouper cheek
- 150g of grouper cheek
- extra virgin olive oil
Herb sauce
- 1 handful of mint, leaves picked
- 1 handful of lemon verbena, leaves picked
- 5 sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves picked
- 1 lemongrass, leaves removed
- 50ml of olive oil
Bottarga sauce
- 1 garlic clove
- 6g of parsley
- 50g of tuna bottarga, Ciccio uses his own brand
- 60g of olive oil, Ciccio uses Biancololla
- 18ml of lemon juice , fresh
- 60g of breadcrumbs, toasted
- 1 orange , zested plus half the juice
- 10g of sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 30g of pine nuts
- 2 anchovies , (salt packed)
- 50g of vegetable stock
- dried red chillies, to your taste
- 18ml of lime juice
- 10g of ground cinnamon
- 4g of ground cloves
- 100g of ground almonds
Spaghetti
- 500g of spaghetti
- salt
To serve
- 50g of tuna bottarga, Ciccio uses his own brand
- 400ml of carrot juice
- lime zest
Equipment
- Blender
- Pestle and mortar
Method
1
To begin, cut the grouper cheek into thin slices using a very sharp knife. Marinate in a little extra virgin olive oil and set aside in the fridge
- 150g of grouper cheek
- extra virgin olive oil
2
To make the herb sauce, add all of the ingredients to a blender and blitz until smooth
- 5 sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves picked
- 1 handful of mint, leaves picked
- 1 handful of lemon verbena, leaves picked
- 1 lemongrass, leaves removed
- 50ml of olive oil
3
To make the bottarga sauce, chop the garlic and parsley and place in a pestle and mortar. Grate in half of the bottarga and grind until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and grind to a paste
- 6g of parsley
- 1 garlic clove
- 50g of vegetable stock
- 60g of olive oil, Ciccio uses Biancololla
- 18ml of lemon juice , fresh
- 60g of breadcrumbs, toasted
- 1 orange , zested plus half the juice
- 10g of sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 30g of pine nuts
- 2 anchovies , (salt packed)
- dried red chillies, to your taste
- 100g of ground almonds
- 18ml of lime juice
- 10g of ground cinnamon
- 4g of ground cloves
- 50g of tuna bottarga, Ciccio uses his own brand
4
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water for 10–12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and toss through the herb sauce
- salt
- 500g of spaghetti
5
Gently warm the carrot juice in a pan
- 400ml of carrot juice
6
Arrange the pasta in the centre of each bowl, then top with a spoon of the bottarga sauce, a slice of grouper cheek, some fine shaving of bottarga and a grating of lemon zest
- lime zest
- 50g of tuna bottarga, Ciccio uses his own brand
7
Pour some carrot juice into the bowls and serve
Discover more:
Go to Comments
Spaghetti with bottarga sauce
