It has been a while and, in the midst of some big life changes, I’m still behind the stove cooking and now tasked with opening another restaurant which has been a consuming but fun challenge as opening day approaches.
Given the high pace of life and long hours that restaurant life usually involves, I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of comfort food.
When you’ve been in a kitchen for 14 hours and cooking a myriad of different stocks, sauces, prepping vegetables and proteins… when the day is finished your senses that have been inundated with “food stuffs” crave just simple comfort.
This brings me to one of my favorite simple and comforting pasta bowls.
Pasta Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino 🍝 (or as we call it, A.O.P)
Usually made with a spaghetti pasta, the sauce is alchemy stemming from the simple ingredients of garlic (aglio), extra virgin olive oil (olio) and chili (peperoncino).
I can’t begin to fully explain the magic that happens when these three ingredients are brought together in full harmony and briefly tossed with spaghetti straight out of a boiling water pot.
Suffice it to say that the Italians have known for centuries(?) that putting extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and chili in the same room leads to magic.
This particular pasta is extra-comforting late at night, FWIW. 😉
Ok, so I love pasta A.O.P but what does this have to do with Japan?
I spent a considerable amount of time consulting with a Japanese chef who opened a pasta bar. He trained in Italy and worked in pasta shops all over the globe before our paths crossed.
The culinary world has seen some really bad fusion attempts where chefs have blended (or forced) ingredients from different cuisines together to try and make something ‘new’. Over the decades the word fusion has gotten a bad rap and rightfully so in most cases.
When you think of Italian and Japanese cuisine, however, you can see some striking similarities. a) focus in flavor, b) minimal ingredients, c) quality of produce, d) simple technique.
There are exceptions to every generalization but you can see what I’m getting at if you are familiar with both Japanese and Italian cooking.
Below is presented my favorite A.O.P pasta blending the tradition of the Italian original with flavors and umami rich pleasure of Japan.
The recipe is slightly streamlined from how we would build this in a dedicated pasta kitchen. This is so you can enjoy this at home in ~12 minutes. There are some components that you can prep in advance and keep on hand as well as some alterations I’ve suggested for you to tweak according to your tastes.
After all, the goal here is for you to have a delicious bowl of pasta that is cravable.
I present to you:
A.O.P Giapponese 🍝
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