Spaghetti with bottarga sauce

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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.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

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

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
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 about this region's cuisine:

One of Sicily’s best-loved chefs, Ciccio Sultano has travelled as far as New York to hone his craft. Now back home, Ciccio’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant Duomo is the standard bearer for Sicilian haute cuisine, attracting diners from far and wide to the city of Ragusa.

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