Tossing breadcrumbs with pasta might sound odd, but it's an old Italian trick for those that couldn't afford Parmigiano—cucina povera. With the briny bite of frazzle capers it's the perfect speedy supper.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 (or 2, more appropriately) | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 10 minutes |
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Tossing breadcrumbs with pasta might sound odd, but it's an old Italian trick for those that couldn't afford Parmigiano—cucina povera. With the briny bite of frazzle capers it's the perfect speedy supper.
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Ingredients
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 3 - 4 t-spoons olive oil (regular), divided (Botticelli recommended)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons capers coarsely chopped
- 1 clove garlic sliced
- Small pinch chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs see note
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
- 1/4 t-spoon kosher salt plus A LOT more for pasta water
Servings:
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of water over high heat, covered, until boiling.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat until fairly hot. Pour in about half the regular olive oil and let it get rippling hot—literally seconds. Drop in the capers and fry quickly until they get, well, frazzled.
- Sprinkle in the breadcrumbs and a little salt and toss about, coating in the oil slightly. Don’t worry if it seems a little dry – that’s fine – some crumbs will plump and fry in the oil, others will toast dryly in the pan.
- Remove the capers and crumbs to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Drop the pasta into the water once boiling and cook a minute or two shy of the package instructions for al dente (usually about 7 minutes or so).
- Once the pasta has 2 minutes left, put the remaining regular olive oil in the pan with the garlic and chili flakes. Heat over medium low heat, gently. Once the pasta’s time is up, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water (more than you’ll need). Drain the pasta and shake off access water.
- Raise the heat on the pan and drop in the pasta and toss about in the garlicy oil. Pour in enough of the reserved pasta water to slightly lubricate it – about ¼ cup. Toss it about frequently to coat in the starchy water, letting it soak up some of the liquid.
- Once the pan is mostly dry, stir in most of the parsley. Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and shut the heat off immediately. Top the pasta with the crumbs and capers and the rest of the parsley and take the whole pan with you to the table (or transfer the pasta to a wide bowl and then top with the crumbs if you're not an animal).
Recipe Notes
- I don't bother with those store-bought breadcrumbs that come in those canisters—they have absolutely nothing going for them. Whenever I have bread that's either going to go stale, or won't be eaten before it goes stale or bad, I dry it out in the oven, grind it up, and stash it in the freezer for later. If day-old bread at the grocery store is dirt cheap that's a good option, too. Get the "recipe" HERE.
- Check that your pasta and breadcrumbs (or bread, if you're making the crumbs) are vegan friendly—you can easily make this a great vegan meal! So long as the pasta doesn't contain eggs you're good (most product lines by Barilla are vegan friendly). Many store-bought breadcrumbs ARE NOT vegan friendly, but you can easily get some vegan bread, toast a few slices, and grind them up.
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