Top chef Angela Hartnett revealed how she takes her favourite pasta dish to the next level
Pasta is a go-to choice for many households when they’re in need of something comforting and quick and easy to prepare. Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett recently shared her knack for elevating the simplest of pasta recipes.
In a recent episode of the Dish from Waitrose podcast, Angela whipped up one of her favourite pasta dishes for actress Gemma Arterton. She paired linguine with flavours of the coast, using crab and fennel as the heart of the dish.
What’s even better is that it takes just ten minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook, so it works perfectly for a speedy midweek dinner, too. In a clip shared to TikTok, the chef revealed how she takes a simple pasta dish to the next level.
The real secret to any good pasta dish, which Angela swears by, is using pasta water. When adding all of the ingredients to the pan, you want to make sure that you’re adding a splash of the reserved pasta water.
Angela said: “The key to all of this is your reserved pasta water.”
Pour around a cup of the pasta water and then toss all of the ingredients together to coat the pasta. Adding pasta water to sauce acts as a binder that helps to emulsify fats, thickens the texture with starch, and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
The starchy, salty water prevents watery sauces, binds oil and/or cheese, and allows the sauce to coat each noodle evenly. To add some extra colour and flavour to the dish, you can add a handful of wild rocket leaves to the pasta after everything is stirred together.
Angela continued: “Mmm, that is lovely. I hope Gemma likes it.”
Gemma described the dish as “beautiful”.
The video has already been viewed over 18,400 times, receiving 972 likes and seven comments, at the time of writing. AA simply commented: “Delicious.”
Another agreed: “God Angela is GORG.”
Here’s how you can recreate Angela’s favourite pasta at home for a true taste of Italy.
Angela Hartnett’s crab, caramelised fennel and red chilli linguine
Ingredients
- Two tbsp olive oil
- One bulb/s fennel, halved, core removed, then finely sliced
- One shallot, finely sliced
- 150g linguine (or and pasta shape of your choice)
- One mild red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- One unwaxed lemon, zest of half and juice of whole
- 15 basil leaves, shredded
- 100g white crab meat
Method
Heat one tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the fennel and shallot and season. Cover with a lid and sweat gently for five minutes until soft, then uncover and fry for another five minutes, stirring regularly until starting to caramelise.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the pasta. Simmer for one minute less than stated on the pack instructions.
Just before draining, scoop out a mugful of the cooking water and set aside.
Add the chilli and finely grated zest from half the lemon to the fennel, then tip in the drained pasta and six tbsp of the reserved cooking water and toss together. Toss through the juice of the whole lemon and most of the basil and crab meat, then divide between plates and drizzle with the remaining one tbsp oil.
Grind over some black pepper and scatter over the remaining basil to serve.
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