If you’re looking for a pasta dish that’s flavourful but budget-friendly, follow the crumbs, breadcrumbs, that is. You’ll need to toast and season some to make an appetizing mixture to toss and top spaghetti with.
This pasta with breadcrumbs is a Sicilian-style dish, called pasta ca muddica in Italian.
It’s an inviting way to use up stale, firm bread by pulsing pieces of it in a food processor until they turn into breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, you could also grate the stale bread with a sharp grater into breadcrumbs. Or put it in a thick plastic bag and use a kitchen hammer to pound it into breadcrumbs.
Two or three slices of stale white bread, depending on size, should yield the half-cup needed for the recipe. If you have lots of stale bread, turn it all into breadcrumbs, measure what you need for the recipe, and store the rest in an airtight container in your pantry until you need some again.
When I make breadcrumbs, I like them to be a little coarse in texture, kind of like panko, Japanese-style breadcrumbs that are sold at most grocery stores.
To make my variation of pasta with breadcrumbs, the breadcrumbs are first toasted in olive oil with minced garlic, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. They are then transferred to a bowl and chopped parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper are mixed in.
Spaghetti is cooked and when ready, you scoop out some of the cooking water, before draining it. The spaghetti is returned to the pot with the cooking water you scooped out and lemon juice, which helps to create sort of sauce around the pasta when you mix in about the three quarters of the toasted breadcrumb mixture.
The spaghetti is plated and topped with the remaining breadcrumb mixture, drizzled with a little olive oil, and served with more Parmesan cheese, for sprinkle on at the table. It’s a humble, comforting pasta dish nice to enjoy on a cool winter night.
Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs, Garlic, Lemon and Parmesan
Hot, cooked spaghetti, drained and tossed and topped with a tastily seasoned, toasted breadcrumb mixture.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: about 15 minutes
Makes: two servings
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
1/2 cup homemade, slightly coarse, breadcrumbs or storebought panko
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp finely grated zest lemon zest
• pinch red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not the dried, powdered type), plus some for the table
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
175 to 200 grams spaghetti or other long thin, pasta
2 Tbsp lemon juice
• lemon slices and parsley sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil (my pot was eight-inches wide, and five-inches tall). While water is coming to temperature, pour 2 Tbsp olive oil into a nine-inch skillet set over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and cook and stir until light golden. Mix in the garlic, lemon zest and pepper flakes and cook and stir until breadcrumbs are rich golden and garlic is aromatic.
Transfer breadcrumbs to a shallow bowl and mix in the parsley, 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper. Set breadcrumb mixture aside for now.
When water is boiling, and the spaghetti and cook until tender (check package for suggested cooking time). When spaghetti is cooked, scoop out 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and set in a bowl. Now drain the spaghetti well.
Put the drained spaghetti back into its cooking pot and set over medium heat. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, lemon juice and all but about 3 Tbsp of the breadcrumb mixture. Toss everything together and heat through 30 seconds or so.
Divide pasta between two warm serving dishes. Sprinkle with remaining breadcrumb mixture, drizzle with a little olive oil, and garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs, if using. Serve the pasta with Parmesan cheese, for grating and sprinkling on the pasta at the table.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
