Sicilians are masters of sugar, including when they cook pasta. This sweet pasta is made with a toasted almond pesto and glazed in honey. Diners with a sweet tooth will enjoy it served like a normal pasta dish, but it can also be cooled to room temperature in small cake molds and served as a dessert.
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PASTA CÒ MELI RECIPE
Makes: Serves 2
Cook Time: 20 to 30 minutes
For this recipe, you will need:
½ cup (50 g) almonds
¼ cup (30 g) dry bread crumbs
Salt
5.5 ounces (160 g) spaghetti
⅓ cup (100 g) honey
½ teaspoon (1.5 g) ground cinnamon
Grated orange zest, to taste
Put a large pot of water on to boil. While it heats up, prepare the pesto.
In a small skillet, toast the almonds over high heat, stirring frequently. Once you can smell the almonds, remove them and transfer into the bowl of a large mortar and pestle. Next, toast the bread crumbs in the same skillet until lightly browned, then add the crumbs into the almonds. Grind them together into a fine crumble.
When the water comes to a rolling boil, salt it generously and add the spaghetti. Set a timer for 1 minute less than the recommended al dente cook time.
When the pasta is nearing completion, place the honey in a large pan over medium/low heat. Thin the honey with about ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the pasta water and stir together.
When the spaghetti is done, use tongs or a spaghetti fork to transfer it into the honey pan. Add the cinnamon and about ⅔ of the pesto into the pan as well. Turn up the heat to medium/high and stir all together until the honey sauce thickens into a sticky glaze.
Serve immediately, topped with a sprinkle of the remaining pesto and a grating of orange zest.
Buon appetito!