Often when I try to improvise a dish, the results are less than satisfying -- unevenly seasoned, weirdly textured, or just not tasty. Last night, though, I made a simple meal that was exactly what I wanted, so I thought I might as well share my minor triumph.
Poking around in the (quite bare) fridge looking for something I could eat for dinner, I spotted about half a cup of leftover chunky marinara sauce that we made to top pizza last weekend. There was also a carton of whole milk ricotta, a fantastically versatile ingredient that I've decided needs to be one of our staples.
I boiled some spaghetti and scooped it out into a bowl, which I prefer to draining it in a colander -- why dirty another piece of equipment if you don't have to, right? I topped the pasta with some large dollops of ricotta, splashes of olive oil, and a generous sprinkling of Maldon sea salt. I dumped out the hot pasta water and warmed the marinara in the pot, then spooned it on top of the cheese and pasta. I finished the dish with a scattering of fresh basil leaves from our kitchen herb garden and some fresh ground black pepper.
It was a happy accident that I got the proportions just right -- normally I'd have too much oil or cheese. But the tomato and basil were bright and fresh, the oil and cheese creamy and rich, and the sea salt aggressive enough to perk up the vegetables and cut the fat.
Back in May, Zac and I went to dinner at Scarpetta, an Italian restaurant renowned for its spaghetti with tomato and basil, a very simple, light, yet infinitely comforting meal. The flavors of the dish I made last night reminded me of Scarpetta's spaghetti, and that was a truly pleasant surprise. Of course, I'll never be able to duplicate it, but that's okay.
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