Sea Urchin Bottarga Spaghetti

A recipe from the friendly Brit chef at Cepe in Beijing. He kindly explained his method of making seafood pasta. The trick for him is using crushed shallots and garlic marinated in EVOO overnight. When this hits the hot pan, it simply melts. It also helps to emulsify the sauce being prepared. Love it.

crushed garlic
crushed shallots
minced anchovies
clam broth
fish broth
fresh sea urchin
fresh bottarga

1. prepare home-made clam and fish broth ahead of time; note that the clam broth is made with white wine
2. boil spaghetti
3. saute garlic, shallots and anchovies, add clam broth to emulsify; add just a bit of fish sauce to taste
4. drain pasta when done, reserving a bit of pasta water
5. add pasta to pan, along with pasta water
6. stir on high heat until pasta is well coated
7. grate bottarga over pasta, stir very quickly and serve into heated bowls
8. put a spoonful of sea urchin atop each serving