KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Roast turkey with stuffing. Mashed potatoes and extra gravy. Bowls of cranberry sauce. Christmas pudding barely held together with suet and enough brandy to revive the dead. Eggnog, yule logs, mince pies and gingerbread cookies.
Christmastime can feel heavy and not only because of all the family gatherings, the hordes of relatives descending upon the dining table like ransacking Vikings (and smelling much the same, oftentimes).
‘Tis the season for eating and — in most cases — overeating.
Not every meal has to be a feast. After a day of stuffed turkey (and feeling quite stuffed oneself), no one would mind lighter fare, if only to give the belly a rest till the next round of binging.
Last Christmas (or maybe the Christmas before the last — who can keep track with all the eggnog?), this simple pasta quite stole my heart.
It’s little more than cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, rosemary and plenty of garlic to make one forget there isn’t any meat or alcohol involved, yet combined these ingredients create some Yuletide magic.
Some cheese to allay any fears that this dish is too healthy for Christmas; scattering it over the bowl akin to snowfall. The aromatic sauce coats every twirl of the corkscrew-shaped fusilli pasta, like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s day.
Mushrooms a precious umami bomb when palates are weary from all the last-minute year-end shopping; garlic to boost one’s spirits and immunity, to keep one’s body healthy and possessing a suitably hearty appetite for the season.
The vibrant red orbs of cherry tomatoes remind me of mistletoe berries, the spears of rosemary a substitute for thorny mistletoe leaves.
No real mistletoe is used in the making of this dish, naturally. Perhaps that’s a good thing; certain mistletoe plants are toxic, particularly the berries and the leaves.
What is alluded to here, instead, is the myth of the mistletoe. A symbol of fertility during the Middle Ages, the mistletoe eventually was absorbed as part of Yuletide celebrations by the 18th century along with other formerly pagan sigils such as the Christmas tree.
Many traditions abound: In England, a man can kiss any woman who happens to be standing beneath the mistletoe. Refuse to kiss and bad luck would befall the hapless lady.
I’m not sure how this would play out in the #MeToo era; mistletoe might be more misogynist than we remember. Nostalgia can be a dangerous, unreliable emotion.
The Germans have a more romantic take on mistletoe (which might be surprising for those who have been brought up on a diet of vile and violent folklore collected by the Brothers Grimm): Those who kiss under the blessing of mistletoe are destined to marry and have love that endures.
Now that’s a fairy tale worth believing in.
Perhaps, then, for lovebirds, far more romantic would be the act of preparing a dish of “mistletoe” pasta, free from poisons and full of passion?
Light yet full of umami, this dish is not unlike a kiss. Fair trade for a heart that has been given away..
‘MISTLETOE’ PASTA
Of course, any sort of pasta can be used here. I favour fusilli for its shape. The name fusilli comes from the Italian word fuso, meaning “spindle” but also “molten” and “fused”, which is the effect we’re after with every last bit of savoury sauce collected in every crook and cranny of the pasta’s corkscrew twists.
If you’re buying freshly-made pasta, look out for those coloured with natural ingredients such as tomato for red and squid ink for black. The traditional addition of spinach juice to produce a vibrant green pasta could well fit with the Christmas theme.
In case you’re wondering if the use of dried chillies here is tad too Asian or fusion, recall that the Romans employ something similar for their classic spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino. What the Italians called peperoncino, we call dried chillies.
We probably wouldn’t mind more heat, however. Consider truly making it fusion and substituting with fiery cili padi. Why not? Make it your kind of Christmas...
Ingredients
1.5-2 litres water
500g fusilli pasta
2 tablespoons salt
Olive oil
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
2 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly
3-4 whole dried chillies
500g cherry tomatoes
250g mushrooms of choice, sliced
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnishing
Method
Using a large pot, bring water to a boil before adding the salt. Wait until the water returns to a rolling boil before adding the fusilli pasta.
There is no need to add oil to the water; simply stir the pasta constantly for the first minute or so to prevent them from sticking. Cook until almost al dente, as the pasta will continue to cook when tossed with the hot sauce later; approximately two minutes less than the cooking instructions on the pasta box or packet.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the heat isn’t any higher to prevent reaching smoking point.
Add the sprigs of rosemary to infuse the oil with its aroma, then remove the rosemary with a slotted ladle once the leaves have crisped up but not burnt.
Add the garlic and dried chillies to the rosemary infused oil, stirring till the sliced cloves turn a light golden brown. Next add the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Keep stirring until the cherry tomatoes have burst and released their juices.
At this point, add the canned whole tomatoes, breaking the chunks up with the spatula to form a sauce. Taste and season accordingly with salt and pepper. Once it’s seasoned to taste, return the crispy rosemary leaves (stems removed) to the sauce.
Once the pasta is ready, drain and transfer directly to the pan of sauce. Toss the fusilli with the hot sauce with the heat turned off. Plate and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
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