Spaghetti with Bottarga and Almond Bread Crumbs
When Piero traveled to the Italian island of Pantelleria, he discovered pasta and capers topped with crushed toasted almonds and bread crumbs. "I thought the almond bread crumbs would be really cool to add to a bottarga dish," he says. Bottarga is cured roe from either mullet (which is slightly waxy and mildly fishy) or tuna (which has a pronounced anchovy flavor); it's sold at specialty food stores. Though it might seem like a white wine dish, this spaghetti is rich enough to pair very well with a light Pinot Noir, like Piero's 2009 Bodega Chacra Barda. If that proves hard to find, look for something similar from Oregon, like the 2008 Adelsheim Willamette Valley.
May 2011
