Day 112: a golden wisp
Originally planned for today was Nigella’s Lemon and Elderflower Pudding; due to an issue with a baking dish I ordered online - a gorgeous hand-painted lemon one, which turned out to be way too small - I had to change that plan and pick a different one from the line-up.
Gratefully so, I might add. Feeling very lacklustre today and struggling to maintain my emotional posture, I did indeed need the ultimate in comfort food. To some, this may well be cake. To me, it’s pasta; more specifically long pasta, i.e. spaghetti. I am therefore very grateful that I had everything in - only just, mind - to make Nigella’s Yellow Spaghetti; recommended to me by photographer Del Sneddon on Twitter.
Nigella’s Yellow Spaghetti
Not until reading through the recipe did I become aware of how it came into existence, and that the working forces behind its provenance were the flavours of risotto Milanese - sometimes called "risotto giallo" (giallo being Italian for yellow) or, keeping it Nigella: Saffron Risotto, from Kitchen - but a need for something quicker and easier to make, without requiring continual, attentive stirring for twenty minutes. And thus was born Yellow Spaghetti. Or so I think anyway!
I’ve chilled out a lot now when it comes to stirring raw eggy sauces into hot pasta. And even when using a cast iron pot, which retains heat for a lot longer than a regular non-stick or stainless steel saucepan, I actually remember to remind myself to give it a minute longer off of the heat to let it cool down enough so as not to scramble the eggs when I add them (which happened a few times in the past).
Feeling generous, I did throw in an extra 50g of paster (per person) for good measure and happy eatings; the eggs were so large that I just added extra cream, parmesan and seasoning to accommodate more strands.
Flavour musings
I imagine heaven to smell like saffron, and I know - at least in my heaven anyway(!) - that I will eat spaghetti for eternity once there. I strongly believe Nigella’s Yellow Spaghetti to be a taste of said celestial dreamscape; a golden wisp of the promised land.
