Day 36: an ancient, warm umami hug

Today was another one of those days where a midday cookalong was very much required. Other than at weekends, the majority of these cookalongs have taken place in the evenings, and happily so, but sometimes it really is nice - if not essential - to step away from your desk and take a break from eyeballing your screen, or whichever trade it is you may dabble. This is my second weekday-lunchtime cookalong and it really does help break up the day and provide essential rejuvenation to my tired brain, so going forward I will make sure at least one of my weekly picks for 365 Days of Nigella is something quick and uplifting that can be made for lunch.

Today, this came in the form of Nigella’s Spelt Spaghetti with Spicy Sesame Mushrooms.

Nigella’s Spelt Spaghetti with Spicy Sesame Mushrooms

I’m gonna start by saying that this was just the kind of pick-me-up I needed today: the prepping, the aromas when cooking and the joy when eating; they all worked together harmoniously to lift our spirits and rejuvenate our tired minds (and eyes).

I don’t believe I’ve eaten spelt pasta before. I should imagine when I’ve seen it in the shops I would have thought it was the same as wholegrain, which to be honest does very little to float my boat, and I probably would have stuck by this if I hadn’t read the intro to Nigella’s recipe in At My Table. Spelt has been a long-trending grain, and while I may not have eaten spelt pasta before, I have very much enjoyed spelt bread. In fact, I would have probably eaten a lot more of it if I weren’t living payday to payday in London town, as it is a little pricier than regular bread, and rightly so, might I add. It’s farmed better, it’s processed less and it isn’t genetically modified for maximum yielding, so it naturally costs more to produce.

There isn’t an ingredient in this dish that I don’t love to be honest, so there was never any debate over whether I would thoroughly enjoy the dish or not, and while I fully appreciate the spelt spaghetti here acts as a more robust soba noodle, it was nice to have pasta in a new way. I seriously never thought to use pasta in Asian-inspired dishes, and I believe this opens up a world of culinary opportunity in our kitchen. I adore, love, cherish (any synonym to describe great love) mushrooms; on Saturday Kitchen they would be my food heaven. Actually, it’s a tie between shellfish and mushrooms, to be honest.

Soy sauce has been used since ancient times in Asia as an umami seasoning, spelt is one of the oldest grains still in existence and mushrooms certainly have that meaty savouriness too - and have been around longer than any of us probably know - so, I would say this bowl of pasta was like an ancient, warm umami hug: it delivered just the right kind of invigorating, mood-boosting comfort that was needed.