One of my new all time favorite pastas, inspired by one of my all time favs/babes Nigella Lawson, this recipe comes from her new book, but is tweaked to my liking. Remember that a recipe is just a guideline. You can add your own favorite ingredients and flair to anything you like. The rigatoni gets its yellowed coloring from the eggs, and with threads of saffron throughout, this sauce is just as gorgeous as it is decadent. Don't let my eating better hash tag fool you. This shit is just as creamy as it cheesy and eggy. Eating better does not mean cutting out carbs and dairy (sorry I'm not sorry vegans). Eating better is preparing a home cooked meal for your friends and love ones, or even just for yourself...getting yourself in the meditative state in your kitchen after a long days work, and then enjoying the biggest reward of all - food. And in this case, a heaping bowl full of golden goodness.
Serves 2, takes about 15 min
1/4 teaspoon saffron, or more per liking
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
bunch parsley or chives
If you'd like to kick it up a notch:
sprinkling of black truffle salt (I KNOW RIGHT?!)
3 sweet fennel italian sausages
4 oz pancetta, small dice
Start your water for the pasta and as this comes to a boil heat the marsala +saffron in a little pan until it starts to bubble, then remove from heat. Heavily salt pasta water and add the rigatoni. While waiting for your pasta (usually takes anywhere from 12-14 minutes for al dente) beat the 2 eggs, cream, parmesan, salt, and pepper into a bowl. At this point, you could spice it up a bit by adding a pinch of cayenne (or whatever spice you desire). There I go again talking about how a recipe is just a guideline....do you get it yet? Anyways, when the pasta is ready, place a tablespoon of the pasta water into the marsala saffron mixture and strain the rest. Place the rigatoni back in the pot over low heat. Add the butter, marsala saffron goodness, and the eggy creamy cheesy mixture. Stir together until heated, mix in some chopped parsley or chives and season to your palate. Now here's the kicking it up a notch part. Pan fry pancetta until cooked, let rest, and mix in at the very end. Cook the sausages in a 375 degree oven 20 mins or until fully cooked. Slice sausage on a bias and mix in the pasta or serve on the side. Finish with a sprinkling of black truffle salt (motherfuckin' fairy dust) and you have a good night ahead of you, now get on with it!
PS: You can also leave the eggs out of the eggy creamy cheesy mixture and cook them to your liking (just make sure the yolks runny, I prefer sunny side up) and serve on top of the pasta. When you break into the yolk, that golden yellow goodness will run a muck all up on yo pasta.
