RECIPE - Pasta with Bottarga (Massa com Bottarga)

One way to serve bottarga, in a traditional Italian manner, is to make a simple dish of pasta, olive oil, parsley and garlic then sprinkle super-fine shavings of bottarga over the dish just before serving. The sharp salty tang of the fish roe makes the dish redolent of the sea, and the its simplicity highlights the flavor profiles of all of the ingredients.

Whether you make this dish with Italian bottarga, or with Brazilian bottarga from Santa Catarina, you're likely to convince even the most wary diners that bottarga, just like its more famous cousin caviar, is worth every penny that it costs - which is likely to be quite a few as this is definitely a luxury item.

This dish would make the perfect first course for an elegant dinner-at-home. Follow it, as the Italians do, with a perfectly cooked piece of meat accompanied by a small serving of sauteed spinach, then a fruit salad for desserts. Light, sophisticated and absolutely delicious.

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RECIPE - Pasta with Bottarga (Massa com Bottarga)
Serves 4

10 oz (300 gr) good quality durum wheat penne, or other pasta shape as preferred
1.5 oz (40 gr) bottarga, freshly grated
3 cloves garlic
handful Italian parsley, finely chopped
extravirgin olive oil
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Use a medium-sized heavy saucepan. Thinly slice the garlic, then fry in about 3 Tbsp. olive oil over very low heat until transparent but not browned. Reserve.

Cook the pasta in a large amount of salted water, according to directions, or to taste. Drain completely, then immediately add it to the saucepan containing the garlic and oil. Then add the chopped parsley and mix everything together, delicately but completely.

Divide the pasta among four plates, then sprinkle each with a quarter of the grated bottarga. Serve immediately, with freshly ground black pepper.

Recipe translated and adapted from Boca no Mundo on O Dia Online