A creamy Neapolitan pasta, this lacto-vegetarian dish with fennel, red peppers and celery was just of one of many dishes my father learned on his travels in Italy in the 1960s and recorded in his journals.
La crema di Napoli
This vegetarian Neapolitan creamy pasta dish is one of many my dad brought back from his voyages to Italy in the 60s. It's lacto-vegetarian—it uses cream. Rather unusually for his generally verbose style (yeah, I guess you're detecting the genetic connection) the entry about it in his journal is pretty minimal compared with other recipes of the time.
Denton, my father, wrote: "Naples, September1965— Today, I returned to Herculaneum with extra film for the cine camera. The light wasn't great, overcast. But, I know now there will never be too many times for me to return to this astounding place.
"When I got back to the Pensione San Gennaro, I discovered my first Italian vegetarian where I least expected it. The old duck who runs the place. She told me that she had vowed never to eat meat or fish again after Mussolini promised a cornucopia to all Italians while rounding up members of her socialist family. I told her that I could understand her sorrow,. She seems to have accepted I meant it.
"The spaghetti dish she served with the red peppers and fennel is one I immediately knew I must learn. She'd never met a sailor with red hair who was interested—she keeps saying 'capelli rossi' and smiling at me, which I think is a good thing. Whether that or my grubby Italian, something was enough to convince her to lead me into the kitchen and teach me the recipe. I can now cook it myself. I have promised Nonna Diletta I will come back."
And, he did. Even with me in tow as a dribbling toddler. I fell over on the flagstones in Herculaneum and cut my chin. But I cheered up when Nonna Diletta brought out the pasta.
The portions in this recipe serve 2 to 3 diners. Count it up on your fingers if you wish it other.
Shopping list
for the Neapolitan creamy pasta with fennel and red peppers
Spaghetti (or tagliatelle ); fresh or dried, serves two or three people; circa 220 to 250g
4 cloves of garlic, finely grated
1 medium red onion, cubed
1 medium fresh fennel, cubed
1 very ripe red bell pepper, cubed
3 or 4 celery stalks, finely sliced
100g large chestnut mushrooms, sliced
Approx. 120ml fresh single cream
½ a glass white wine (optional)
4 tbspns olive oil
2 tbspns grated parmesan (or comparable hard cheese such as Grana Padano)
1 heaped tspn dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Additional grated parmesan to use at table (optional)
The salad
1 little gem lettuce, washed and torn by hand
¼ cucumber, finely sliced
1 small onion, finely sliced
a generous dash of balsamic vinegar
a generous dash of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Method
for the Neapoltian creamy pasta with fennel and red peppers
In a frying pan, heat half of the olive oil on a medium-to-high heat. Unlike with many other dishes, add the grated garlic while the oil is heating: you will see when it begins "bubbling". Don't wait for the garlic to turn golden": add the chopped onion barely a minute after the garlic sizzles. Stir together. Cook together for a few mins
Add the celery and stir in. Once sealed—but not necessarily soft—add the chopped fennel and stir together with the other ingredients. Still on a fairly high heat, almost constantly so that the fennel is sealed. Sauté these ingredients together for 3 or 4mins. If using the white wine, add it now and allow it to cook off
Add the ripe red bell pepper and dried oregano and stir in. Sauté together with the other ingredients, stirring to prevent sticking. When cooked, remove from the heat. Allow to cool briefly and decant to another dish
Using the same, unwashed pan, heat the other half of the olive oil on a medium heat. Gently, sauté the mushrooms when the oil is hot
While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti (or pasta of choice), timing so that it's ready when the sauce is cooked
Once the mushrooms are cooked, add the pre-cooked vegetables back into the pan and stir in. When they are very hot, pour in half of the cream and add half of the grated parmesan. Stir gently, reducing to a low heat—you want to avoid boiling the cream—add a pinch of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
As the cream begins to thicken, add the rest of parmesan. If you keep the temperature low, the cream will neither boil, nor become too thick. Keep stirring until—use the flavour test—the flavours fuse. When this happens, remove from the heat, stir thoroughly, cover and allow to rest
When the pasta is cooked, al dente, drain and return to the hot pot—off the heat—and fold in the creamy "sauce". Plate (or serving dish) and serve with the salad
The salad
Wash and drain the baby gem lettuce. Tear the leaves by hand and add to a serving dish or individual salad bowls
Add the sliced raw onion and cucumber and fold in
Dress with the balsamico and extra virgin olive oil; take to table with the pasta dish
Alternatives
This is by default a lacto-vegetarian dish. As a vegan version, I have often served it without adding the cream and merely a little more olive oil—I'm not a big fan of "pretend" dairy alternatives—resulting in a suitably delicious vegan pasta dish.,
Carnivores and pescatarians. Seriously? Did you read the heartfelt story behind this one? Even though I could, I'm not gracing the notions. This one is really very much linked to my dad's respect for Nonna Diletta, his first known Italian vegetarian. So, we're staying with that.
Pairings
In my dad's journal he talks about enjoying "Lacryma Christi Bianco 'Cratere Bianco". From the way he wrote about it, I have no idea whether it relates to this specific dish or more broadly what he appreciated on this particular trip. I'm not splitting hairs.
I've never had any epiphany with this one. I think of it as a quotidian situation. Most often I simply pair it with iced sparkling water and a slice of lemon. Other times I pair it with a really aggressive Sicilian Catarratto, the kind where the sun-drenched grape acts as a lovely counterfoil to the creaminess. But, admittedly, I've never paid too much attention. Input welcomed by any true oenologists, naturally.
Comments