Day 136: speared with summer crunch
Well…it’s been quite the day! I posted a Tweet yesterday with a little update on my cookalong fundraiser for FareshareUK - and the queen herself retweeted it this morning! This resulted in a bunch of new followers (welcome, by the way!) and some very generous donations. The amount raised - at the time of writing this entry - now stands at £1,710; 85% of our £2,000 total. Any amount, no matter how large or small, is very generous of you, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. If you’ve read my launch piece on the fundraiser, you’ll know it wasn’t the founding factor behind this cookalong, but, considering the attention that it’s getting and the following it’s building, it seemed only right to try and use this growing platform for another good cause as well; a cause that could benefit more than just me.
It’s been an odd kind of summer - weather-wise - recently. Don't you think? And, it seems since starting this Nigella-Forever-Summer-themed stint of the cookalong, the sun and warmer temperatures have turned awfully shy. But, where the weather may let us down, food never does: it can bring sunshine, comfort, cosiness, sprightliness, warmth, jubilation, rejuvenation; it’s a variable we have greater control over than we do the weather.
As it happened, yesterday was a particularly sunny day and just perfect for some late-afternoon al fresco dining. Perfect for a luncheon of Nigella’s Short Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon, Garlic and Parsley.
Nigella’s Short Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon, Garlic and Parsley
If I had known about this one earlier in the summer, I would have used our own British-grown asparagus; as that time has now passed, I just went for what was available in the shops. Call me sad, call me whatever you like to be honest, but I get quite excited when it comes to buying and eating new pasta shapes - and rigatoni (as suggested in the recipe) is not a frequently featured shape in our bowls. (Spaghetti definitely takes the lead there). And it appears it was not meant to feature today either: the pasta section in the supermarket looked like it’d been hit by hoarders at the start of another lockdown, so (again) I just went with what was available. Short pasta of choice, and the only one actually available: chifferi rigati; so named after the German word Kipfel, an Austrian cake of the same shape.
I could have bronzed the garlic for a little longer, but - considering my inability to concentrate for more than one minute - I didn’t want to keep it in the hot oil for too long.
Flavour musings
A big pan of short pasta slicked in warm, lemon-spiked, garlic-studded extra virgin olive and speared with the summery, grassy crunch of fresh asparagus. It makes for wonderful summertime eating; light, fresh, sharp, full of flavour and really easy to make. And it’s anointed heavenly with lemon zest and fresh parsley.
You can find the recipe for this in Nigella Summer.
