A 10cm x 10cm picket sq. with a big gap crossed with wire strings: it may very well be a tiny harp if it didn’t even have one other set of 12 strings that cross the primary, forming a mesh. Even so, it may be strummed with an extended nail, the essential strum audible, in the event you get in shut. Its precise function is for slicing puntarelle, the internal tubes of a wide range of chicory known as cicoria di catalogna or cicoria asparago (asparagus chicory). A late winter-to-early spring vegetable, succulent puntarelle, with its asparagus-like suggestions, or punte, is a well-liked salad in Lazio, so the essential, nifty and low cost sq. cutters (tagliapuntarelle) are widespread and simple to return by in {hardware} shops. And far as puntarelle migrates and thrives in soil in every single place, so do the cutters. In fact, you don’t want a cutter; a knife works simply as properly, solely extra slowly.
I additionally know a number of individuals who have made themselves a tagliapuntarelle, impressed by the bigger cutters you typically see on market stalls: picket packing containers or frames strung with wire. Massive or small, it’s a fantastically satisfying software, the crisp tubes of chicory chopping like butter into skinny strips, or, if you wish to hold the information intact, puntarelle octopi! And it isn’t just for puntarelle: celery, courgettes and pink pepper work on this software, too; giant greens was fats strings in two musical seconds.
Final week, whereas I do know I can’t be the primary to have completed so, I did really feel like a genius once I pushed asparagus by the mesh. I took off the information first, in order to not offend them, however later puzzled if they might undergo, too. Asparagus stems are much more satisfying than puntarelle, as a result of they sail by the wires and splay out like straight tentacles kind of the identical proportions as spaghetti. Which is why, if the strips are wilted down in oil and given loads of butter and lemon zest, they pair so properly with spaghetti, for what’s a two-tone pleasure and perhaps my favorite recipe up to now this yr.
As at all times, the ultimate stirring is essential. It’s when the pasta, asparagus, starch, fats and pan juices mix and all the things comes collectively, so don’t be afraid to swish the pan and stir vigorously. I might additionally wish to apologise vigorously for occurring a couple of kitchen gadget that most individuals gained’t have. Which is why this column can also be an advert for the varied makers of this good-value object and, extra importantly, calls to anybody able to stringing wire or adapting devices. I’m additionally considering commissioning a bigger mannequin, for each outsized courgettes and strumming follow.
Spaghetti with asparagus, butter and lemon
Serves 4
1 x giant bunch asparagus (about 250g)
3-4 spring onions
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt
450g spaghetti
40g butter
Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
Trim the tip of the asparagus as you favor: snap off the woody ends or pare away the woody components with a potato-peeler. Lower off the information, then minimize the spears lengthways into skinny strings as shut in dimension to spaghetti as you possibly can. Trim the spring onions, then slice the bulbs into arcs and the inexperienced components into brief lengths.
You need to coordinate the cooking in order that each the greens, which take about 10 minutes to melt, are prepared similtaneously the spaghetti, which, relying on the model, can take something from seven to 11 minutes, so drop the spaghetti into salted boiling water accordingly.
Whereas the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a big frying pan set over a medium-low warmth, soften the spring onions for a minute, then add the asparagus and a pinch of salt, and prepare dinner, stirring, till it wilts; carry over a ladleful of the pasta cooking water, all cloudy with starch, to assist it alongside – as soon as cooked, the asparagus must be smooth with just a bit juice. Stir within the butter, lemon juice and zest.
Drain the pasta (or carry it immediately into the asparagus combine), then toss and swish vigorously for a minute or so, or till all the things combines. Serve instantly, with grated parmesan for individuals who need it.
