Spaghetti alla Bottarga


Spaghetti with dried and salted fish roe


Recipe Posted on 5th June, 2005

Recipe Source: I first tasted this dish in a small local restaurant in the town of Villasimíus in the southeast corner of Sardinia, Italy on 16th May 2005. I was an instant addict. I only ordered it because I didn't know what bottarga was, but if the truth be known, I almost ordered a second serve straight up! As soon as I left the restaurant I hunted down the key ingredient - Bottarga.

Bottarga is a delicacy for which Sicily is famous, however I found that it was used in both Sicily and Sardinia. It is made by salting and then drying fish roe (eggs). In Sicily it's made from tuna roe (Bottarga di Tonno), but in Sardinia it's made using roe from another fish. I think they use grey mullet, but I'm not sure. In Sicily it can be bought in granulated form or in pressed blocks, although I only found the granulated form in Sardinia. Needless to say, I bought some of all of the different types! Below is a picture showing the Sardinian bottarga on the right, and the Sicilian tuna bottarga in the centre and left.

From left to right, Bottarga di Tonno from Sicily in pressed block form (I paid €20 for this block), then the same in granulated form (€8 for this bottle), and Bottarga di Muggine Macinata from Sardinia in granulated form (€8 for this bottle)

Bottarga is most likely eaten many ways which I know nothing about. In Sicily the pressed row is eaten in thin slices on fresh bread with a squeeze of lemon. I tried the granulated bottarga I bought in Sardinia on fresh bread with a drizzle of olive oil and it was smashing. My overall favourite however is spaghetti alla bottarga.

This is some Linguine alla Bottarga that I made recently. The picture gives you an idea of how much bottarga to sprinkle onto your pasta.

Ingredients
Good quality spaghetti (about 100g per person)
Good quality extra virgin olive oil (the Sardinia they use a very light fruity olive oil, but I think a stronger oil would also be good)
Bottarga in granulated form


Method
Cook the pasta until al dente. While still hot, toss the pasta with a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of bottarga to taste. Toss well and serve immediately.

When I ate this dish it wasn't served with cheese, but I'll leave that up to you. I will say however that this is something I ate on Sardinia and the region is famous for its pecorino cheese; so if you're going ahead with the cheese, stay regional and use a good quality aged sheep's milk pecorino.