pasta, alliums, lemon, chilis, habanada, smoked swordfish

Pasta has a wonderful affinity for any smoked food, whether meat, fish, or vegetable, and this recipe, in which I had incorporated smoked monkfish the first time I worked with it, is an excellent exemplar.

  • one small pink onion (“I like to call them rosé onions”, Tyler, who grew them, told me) from Alewife Farm, thinly-sliced, and half a dozen sliced small red scallions from Hawthorne Valley Farm, sautéed together in 4 ounces of olive oil inside a large, high-sided tin-lined copper pan for 4 minutes, the juice of one and a half organic lemons from Whole Foods Market then added and the pan kept over a decent flame for another 2 or 3 minutes, stirring, the heat then reduced to low and a pinch of sea salt, some very good red pepper flakes (remaining from the delivery of an excellent Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza a few days earlier), plus 4 or 5 chopped fresh medium-size habanada peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm stirred into the sauce until both the hot and sweet peppers had become pungent, 8 ounces of Afeltra Pasta di Gragnano linguine from Eataly which had been just cooked until barely al dente, added, along with – pouring very gradually while blending – almost a cup of reserved pasta water, continuing to stir until it had emulsified, one thinly-sliced 2 or 4-ounce piece of smoked swordfish from P.E & D.D. Seafood added and tossed with the sauced linguine, the dish transferred to low serving bowls, drizzled with a little olive oil around the edges, sprinkled with lemon zest and more red pepper flakes, and garnished with homemade toasted breadcrumbs

There was a small cheese course, but, for no reason in particular, I didn’t photograph it.

  • an Ardith Mae fresh chevre, served with freshly-ground black pepper, crushed pink peppercorns, micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge on the side, and lightly-toasted slices of a She Wolf Bakery sourdough baguette and an Orwashers sourdough with Moroccan olives