Erica De Mane

Dino and the Duke. The pasta is probably not whole wheat.


The recipe below is whole wheat.

Recipe:

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Cockles, Roasted Tomatoes, and Dandelion

I now eat pasta only about once a week, and I want each pasta dish I cook to be perfect. But I’m also conscious of the amount I eat (what a nuisance), and I add lots of protein and go for whole wheat as often as I can tolerate it.

Whole wheat pasta? Is that really Italian? Yes it is. And it’s currently even having a little vogue in Italy, since the backlash against refined carbohydrates has made its way out of New York and Los Angeles and into the world (or at least into some of the parts of the world, where they have the luxury to be picky about what they eat). I actually really like whole wheat pasta, but I’ve found that it makes me rethink my sauces. Not only is the taste different from that of the standard dried durum wheat types, but the texture is a bit more brittle, not quite as luxe and elastic. Cream sauces are definitely out; their taste hardly registers as a coating for the nutty flavor of whole wheat. Butter and parmigiano alone? Not quite forceful enough. But if you add a few chopped anchovies to a butter sauce, then you’re getting somewhere. That seems to be the traditional approach in Italy to creating beautifully balanced whole wheat pasta dishes.

Bigoli, a whole wheat pasta shape from the Venezia region, something like a thick bucatini, is traditionally served bathed in an anchovy or salted sardine sauce. Pizzocheri, squares of buckwheat pasta from the Valtellina, in the Italian Alps, always gets the full treatment: cabbage, potatoes, strong bitto cheese. It’s not exactly a diet dish; it’s better for the local cattle drivers than for a computer-bound urbanite. But at any rate, it goes to show that Italian cooks understand that whole wheat needs robust flavors.

I love whole wheat spaghetti with a puttanesca-type sauce, or with anything tomatoey studded with punches of flavor such as olives, capers, anchovies, pepato cheese, or a salty salami. I’ve also found that if I want to pair a whole wheat pasta with a single vegetable sauce, such as one based on spring peas, asparagus, or artichokes, I need to jack up the flavor with richness or saltiness. Richness possibly in the form of pancetta, saltiness with strips of prosciutto or a sprinkling of ricotta salata.

The brininess of clams or cockles works very well with whole wheat. Here I balance their brine with acidity from tomatoes, heat from fresh chilies, sweet vermouth, and the gorgeous bite of young spring dandelion.

Latini is my favorite brand of whole wheat pasta, but for other good Italian producers and where to buy them, see my recent essay on Farro Strozzapreti with Broccoli Rabe, Hot Cappacola, and Fennel Seeds.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Cockles, Roasted Tomatoes, and Dandelion

(Serves 4)

3 pints grape tomatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 green jalapeno pepper, minced
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
2 to 2 1/2 pounds cockles (my favorites are the tiny green-tinged ones from New Zealand), scrubbed and rinsed
1/2 cup sweet red vermouth
A bunch of young dandelion greens, well stemmed and lightly chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lay the tomatoes out on a large sheet pan, and coat them well with olive oil (your hands are the best tool for this), seasoning them with salt.

Set up a large pot of pasta cooking water over high heat.

When the oven is hot, place the tomatoes in it, and roast them for about 5 minutes. Pull the pan from the oven, scatter on two of the sliced garlic cloves and the jalapeno, and roast about 5 minutes longer, just until the tomatoes start to burst. Take them from the oven, and throw on a splash of pasta cooking water, just to loosen up all the caramelized stuff on the bottom of the pan.

When the water comes to a boil, add a generous amount of salt, and drop in the spaghetti.

While the pasta is cooking, turn the heat to high under a wide, high-sided skillet. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil and the remaining sliced garlic, letting it sauté for a few seconds. Then throw in the cockles. Stir the cockles around for a few seconds, coating them with the oil. Now add the sweet vermouth, and continue cooking, stirring the cockles around frequently, until they open, about 4 minutes. Scatter on the dandelions and the pine nuts. Turn off the heat.

When the spaghetti is al dente, drain it well, and pour it into a warmed serving bowl. Add the tomatoes, with all their pan juices, and the cockles, with their liquid. Add a generous drizzle of fresh olive oil, and give everything a toss. Taste for seasoning, adding a little salt if needed. Serve right away.