Day 17: pungent stigmas

Firstly, can I just say, I had no idea saffron had so much flavour. I genuinely thought it was an overpriced fad that just gave food a beautiful orange hue, which only reinforces that naivety and ignorance will not deliver variety in the kitchen. I used saffron previously for Nigella’s Saffron Scented Chicken Pilaf for Day 9 of 365 Days of Nigella, but I didn’t imagine its gentle scent would burst through a tomato-rich sauce, like one used in Nigella’s Radiatori with Sausage & Saffron. So, I chose this recipe to be included in this week’s picks and as soon as I got my hands on some radiatori pasta, I got to work.

Nigella’s Radiatori with Sausage and Saffron

Such quirky-looking pasta shapes, modelled after an old industrial heating fixture, and they are the perfect vessels for capturing the sweetly, saffron-scented sauce in this recipe. I am a huge fan of fennel-rich Italian sausages, broken up and used in pasta, and I often use them in a tomato sauce like this (but never with the saffron). If I am honest, I presumed the acidity of tomatoes and the anise pungency of fennel would mask any additional flavour used.

I actually forgot to buy Italian sausages, so I improvised. As instructed I squeezed out the sausage meat from each sausage and then added a mix of ground fennel seeds, garlic powder, paprika, dried oregano and dried sage and combined well. After this minor detour I proceeded with the rest of the recipe, as written.

I have really enjoyed all of the pasta recipes that we have included in the cookalong so far; they are simple to make, easy to follow and deliver maximum comfort and maximum please, with brand new flavours. All of the pasta sauces that I made previously were improvised, and while I might have adjusted the quantities of particular ingredients, the variety rarely changed. So it has been exciting to expand here.

Flavour musings

I am really quite fond of floral flavours in my food and drink, in particular jasmine tea, and for me saffron is reminiscent of that same sweet, floral scent. I was amazed how impressively, and boldly, it shone through the other ingredients in the sauce, and I even felt as though its sweet, honey-like taste was the perfect beau for the acidity of the tomato. Served with a showering of parmesan, this one was a tummy-pleasure for sure.