Spice by Ana Sortun Read Free Book Online

was full of Italians, who gasped as I started to crush the vermicelli into little pieces. Italians never crush pasta, and they always boil it in plenty of water, to remove a lot of its starch. I demonstrated this way of cooking pasta as if it were rice in a pilaf. They were skeptical, but once they tried it, they loved it.
    This little pasta dish is packed with flavor and is great with lots of cooked greens like Swiss chard or spinach. Traditionally, Spanish fideos is made with fish and is cooked in a highly flavored fish broth and then finished with a homemade garlic mayonnaise to make it extra creamy. Here’s my vegetarian version, which is now a signature dish at Oleana. You can make the broth days ahead of time and freeze it.
    Pair this vegetarian pasta dish with an Italian Barbera that is spicy, rich, and slightly smoky.
    S ERVES 6
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon salt plus more to taste
½ pound angel hair pasta coils, preferably De Cecco brand
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, washed and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons peeled and smashed garlic (about 6 cloves)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon saffron
1/3 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, finely ground in a coffee grinder (see page 72)
4 ancho chilies, stemmed and most of the seeds removed (about 1 cup)
4 cups chopped, canned tomatoes with juice (28-ounce can)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
8 cups water or vegetable stock
Pepper to taste
1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed, stems removed, and leaves very finely sliced (about 1/8 inch) ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup Lemon Aioli (page 50)
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Strain the chickpeas, place them in a medium saucepan, and cover them with water to double or triple their volume. Place on high heat and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 25 minutes, until very tender. Add a tablespoon of salt and let them sit.
3. Meanwhile, to make the fideos, crush the pasta coils with your hands into very small pieces (about ½ inch) over a large baking sheet. Spread the pieces out evenly on the sheet and then bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Set aside.

4. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil over medium heat and add the onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, saffron, vanilla bean, coriander, and fennel. Stir well so that all the ingredients are coated with oil and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes, until the carrots and onion start to soften. Add the chilies, tomatoes, cocoa, and the water and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 55 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about a third. Remove the bay leaf and the vanilla bean. Scrape the vanilla bean lightly and add any black seeds back into the broth.
5. Purée the broth with a handheld emulsion blender or in small batches in a regular blender until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve and season to taste with salt and pepper. You should have about 8 cups of well-seasoned, concentrated broth.
6. In a large sauté pan (about 11 inches) with deep sides, bring the broth to a simmer over medium-high heat, and add the chard leaves. Cook over low heat, until the chard wilts and starts to become tender, about 6 minutes.
7. Drain the chickpeas and add to the broth.
8. Reduce the heat to medium and add the fideos and ¼ cup of the olive oil. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta absorbs all the broth.
9. Season with salt to taste.
10. Add 4 tablespoons of lemon aioli and stir until the mixture becomes creamy. If the fideos are really thick, stir in a little water. The mixture should have the consistency of macaroni and cheese before baking. It should be nice and creamy but thick enough to stay on the spoon when you eat it. Serve immediately.

Lemon Aioli
    After you add this lemon aioli to the fideos, you’ll have a lot left over. It’s delicious served with roasted potatoes, raw or