Spaghetti all'Ubriaco with hazelnut-rosemary crumbs

Spaghetti all’Ubriaco with hazelnut-rosemary crumbs

Inspired by my recent travels to Italy, this pasta is outrageously delicious. The spaghetti is cooked in a red wine, allowing it to soak up that full-bodied flavour and giving the pasta a beautiful red hue. This is a favourite whip-together speedy weeknight meal, and the hazelnut-rosemary crumbs can be made in advance for rapid sprinkling on-demand.

Top Tip - the hazelnut-rosemary crumb is also excellent as a topping for fish, or use as a crumb for fried halloumi.

hands-on time

20 minutes


serves

4


20 minutes

total time


Ingredients

Spaghetti

75ml olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

¾ tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves

1 tsp sea salt

750ml red wine

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried

¾ tsp cracked black pepper

500g dried spaghetti

200g cherry tomatoes

Hazelnut-rosemary crumbs

2 Tbsp olive oil

50g panko breadcrumbs

50g hazelnuts, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves

½ tsp cracked black pepper

¼ tsp sea salt

Method

First make the hazelnut-rosemary crumbs, place the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the breadcrumbs, chopped hazelnuts, garlic and rosemary and fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden brown. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and stir through the black pepper and sea salt. Set aside.

For the spaghetti, bring a large saucepan of salted water (about 1 tbsp salt) to the boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, place the olive oil in a large high-sided pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic, chilli flakes, rosemary and salt and sauté for 2 minutes until starting to turn golden. Add the red wine, oregano and black pepper. Increase the heat to high, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium to simmer.

When the salted water comes to the boil, add the spaghetti and cook for 3 minutes until the spaghetti starts to soften. Drain the cooking water from the spaghetti, then add the drained spaghetti and cherry tomatoes to the red wine sauce and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the spaghetti is al dente and has absorbed most of the wine. Remove from the heat and adjust seasoning to taste.

To serve, using tongs, transfer the spaghetti and tomatoes to wide bowls and sprinkle generously with the hazelnut-rosemary crumbs.