One of my best friends thinks that I’m Italian. Maybe it’s because I made rigatoni Bolognese during the first cottage weekend I spent with her, or maybe it’s because I really enjoy feeding everyone, have dark hair and an olive skin tone, and happened to grow up in New Jersey. All to say, this is how I inherited the name Nona.
If you’re like me, you always have spaghetti in your cupboard. Spaghetti is one of those pantry items you should always have on hand come Sunday night, when you want carbs. If you’re really like me, you put more carbs on your carbs. In this recipe, it’s in the form of garlic breadcrumbs on top of spaghetti. This dish is so simple to throw together and it’s made completely from scratch; big Spanish olives with red peppers are paired up with lemon zest, fresh parsley and anchovy, adding a kick of umami flavour.
My husband and I eat this standing up, right out of the pan, mostly because we don’t feel like doing dishes on a Sunday evening, but I would like to believe that it’s the Italian Nona in me. Enjoy!
ingredients
Tapenade
Garlic Breadcrumbs
directions
For the tapenade, place Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped (just a few pulses). Set aside.
For the garlic breadcrumbs, in a small pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Once the butter has melted, add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. About 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the breadcrumbs and toss to coat them with the garlic-y butter/oil. Cook and toss for about 2 minutes to toast the breadcrumbs, and then season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat off and add the red pepper flakes and parsley, and toss to combine. Set aside.
For the spaghetti, cook the pasta in heavily salted boiling water until just al-dente (9-11 minutes, depending on the brand). Before draining the spaghetti, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid then drain the spaghetti. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter with the olive oil. Add the tapenade and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spaghetti, 2 more Tbsp of butter, parmesan cheese, reserved cooking liquid, salt and pepper to taste. Cook and toss for about 1-2 minutes until the spaghetti is coated with the tapenade. Turn the heat off and sprinkle the garlic breadcrumbs over top. Serve with extra parmesan cheese and fresh black pepper.