this is a dish that i've just come up with after feeling that i've gotten a good grip on some newly-learned techniques. this feels like one of the best recipes i've ever come up with. also, i'm eating it as i'm writing this and it's making it hard to write it down.

 

the inspirations for this dish were risotto, spaghetti all'assassina, and chicken lazone.

 

  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 tsp knorr chicken boullion powder (don't measure too exact, be a bit generous here)
  • 1/2 tsp knorr tomato boullion powder (same with this one)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red pepper flakes (like the ones you get with pizza)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika (NOT NORMAL PAPRIKA)
  • 12oz orecchiette pasta (no don't sub in different noodles, use orecchiette please)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup parmesan or parmigiano reggiano
  • some salt. use your brain
  • [optional] some amount of dried parsley
  • [optional] some amount of generic italian seasoning cause ya basic

 

  1. put the water in a sauce pot with the boullion powder. boil it. then turn the heat down and just let it stay warm.
  2. in a biggish pan, put your olive oil in there. let it get hot and then put the red pepper flakes and the paprika in the parts of the pan that have oil. stir em around and let em get all snappy and toasty, like 30s or so.
  3. put the orecchiette in. mix it up, get it all coated in oil and chili and stuff.
  4. now ladle in some of the broth from the sauce pot into the pan. like a couple of ladles worth so that the pasta is not totally covered, but is definitely swimming. stir. stir. stir.
  5. when the sauce is getting thick enough that you can write letters in the pan, ladle in some more broth. rinse and repeat.
  6. taste as you go. once the pasta is cooked enough for you, let it reduce down to a writable thickness one more time and then add the cream and parmesan (and the optional ingredients if you want).
  7. stir and reduce one last time until the desired saucy-ness is achieved. salt to taste. plate it up.

 

tips!

  • the small amount of boullion powder is intentional - when making a reduction with boullion, it will get *very* salty if you aren't careful.
  • you may run out of broth before the pasta is finished cooking. that's ok — just boil some more water without boullion. totally fine!
  • if you want to be extra, you can saute some garlic in the sauce pot before you add the water and boullion. no harm no foul; i don't think it adds much though.