Spaghettini With Bottarga and Colatura

Recipe from Diego Rossi

Adapted by Ligaya Mishan

Published March 5, 2023

Spaghettini With Bottarga and Colatura
Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(471)
Comments
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In the Middle Ages, monks on Italy’s Amalfi Coast were tasked with preserving anchovies, the local catch. They discovered that the amber liquid exuded by the aging fish — colatura di alici, literally “anchovy drippings” — could be used as a briny seasoning. Nodding to this tradition, the chef Diego Rossi, at the acclaimed trattoria Trippa in Milan, unites colatura and bottarga di muggine (cured gray mullet roe) in a pasta that is powerfully marine. The sauce isn’t cooked: Instead, he lets the ingredients — bottarga, yellow tomato sauce, colatura, basil, garlic, lemon and chile — melt among the strands of hot spaghettini. The sweetness of the tomato tempers the bitterness of the bottarga. (It’s best to make the pasta in single servings, to control that bitterness, and to eat it immediately.) The umami is everywhere, in the bottarga, the tomato, and, delicate yet insistent, the colatura, calling back to a remembered sea.  —Ligaya Mishan

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Ingredients

Yield:1 serving
  • Salt
  • 3ounces spaghettini (thin spaghetti)
  • 3tablespoons jarred yellow cherry tomato sauce, see Tip
  • ½ounce bottarga di muggine (cured grey mullet roe), finely grated (2½ tablespoons), see Tip
  • 1½teaspoons colatura di alici (anchovy extract), see Tip
  • 1large basil leaf, finely chopped
  • ¼small garlic clove, finely grated (optional)
  • Fresh lemon juice, to taste
  • Red-pepper flakes, to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Fill a pot with water and salt heavily. Bring to a boil over high heat and add the pasta.

  2. Step 2

    While the pasta is cooking, add the tomato sauce, bottarga, colatura, basil, garlic (if using), a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of red-pepper flakes to a large bowl. No need to stir.

  3. Step 3

    When the pasta is al dente, reserve ¼ cup pasta cooking water then drain the pasta. Add the hot pasta to the bowl with bottarga and mix well, tossing to coat. The bottarga will start to melt and create a creamy sauce, glossing and clinging to the strands. If the pasta seems very dry, add a little of the pasta water. Season to taste with additional lemon juice and red-pepper flakes, if desired. Serve immediately.

Tips
  • Jarred yellow cherry tomato sauce, bottarga di muggine (cured grey mullet roe) and colatura di alici may be purchased online and from Italian or gourmet groceries.
  • If you do not have colatura on hand, you may substitute ½ to 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce. Because Asian fish sauce is stronger in flavor than colatura, be sure to taste and adjust as you go.
  • If you cannot find jarred yellow cherry tomato sauce, you may also take fresh yellow cherry tomatoes, dip them into boiling water with a slotted spoon for a few seconds, then plunge them into a bowl of ice water. Slip off the skins, crush the tomatoes lightly and remove the seeds. Note that yellow tomatoes have less acidity, so red tomatoes and red tomato sauce cannot be substituted.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
471 user ratings
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Comments

Thom Chu

I got grated Alma bottarga di muggine at Eataly for $15.90 for a 40g jar, it’s fine and a more practical portion than the whole roe sac which goes for $30 or more, it’s over $100 a pound. The fish sauce is called anchovy sauce at Eataly, they carry Agostino Recca for $10.90 for a 100ml bottle. The whole jarred yellow tomatoes are $5.90 for 12 oz. I spent $37.20 on what would feed three people including the pasta.

Sean

As mentioned in the "Tips" If you do not have colatura on hand, you may substitute ½ to 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce. Because Asian fish sauce is stronger in flavor than colatura, be sure to taste and adjust as you go.

Pat

This recipe is part of my favorite pasta of all time except I add mountains of fresh parsley and toasted, buttered bread crumbs. For those who can't find botarga, anchovies are fine in a pinch.

Mindy Kaufman

I love this recipe! I found everything at Eataly in NYC, although the yellow cherry tomatoes are not a sauce, just jarred yellow tomatoes. wondering if I need to cook them like i did this time?

Jan

I have an overly abundant tomato garden so I used fresh sungold cherry tomatoes - doubling the tomato sauce, 12 leaves of fresh basil, a full garlic clove, and had to substitute fish sauce (half) for the colatura. I added parmesean at the end because... I have to. Other than that I followed the recipe carefully. FANTASTIC!

heavy breakfast

Add canned clams sautéed in butter and white wine for a touch more texture and protein. Finish with parsley, and a dash of red pepper flakes/olive oil. Home cooked pasta doesn’t get better than this.

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