31 Aug Spaghetti with breadcrumbs

You know how I love simplicity. In food and in life, though the “in life” bit doesn’t always come as easily. In the kitchen I am in control, whereas in life there are many conflicting forces at work, people who think and feel differently to me, with desires that don’t necessary match mine, I tend to veer into strange corners. When I talk about simplicity in the kitchen, what I am really talking about is soul food – those homely recipes that make you feel warm and cosy on the inside and take hardly any effort, or ingredients, to make. When my semi-Italian lover (for want of a better definition at this moment in time) reminisced about spaghetti with breadcrumbs in Tuscany, I  immediately had to try and recreate it – even though it was 4am – instinctively knowing that this had the potential to be one of those special dishes

Yet I was sceptical throughout the entire cooking time, modifying and elaborating the dish with whatever I had lying around the cupboards and fridge, trying to make it edible. It ended up being much more than that. In fact, I recreated again the next day for lunch too. And I think I may well recreate it many more times in my lifetime. I used wholewheat spaghetti for this, which I cooked in salted water until it was al dente. While this is cooking, fry the breadcrumbs in the mixture of olive oil and butter (mainly olive oil). Once they have turned golden (after 3-4min), add the garlic salt, pepper and dried thyme, then cook for a further 2min. Turn the heat off and add the lemon juice. When the spaghetti is done, drain it and add it to the pan with the breadcrumbs. Put the stove back on and toss it all  together while heating for a couple of minutes – ideally you would use a very large frying pan for this. Finish off with plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Do not eat at 4am if you care about your waistline