Tick, tick, tick. Counting down the days until the new year. The end of an era. Another decade comes to a close; the beginning of a new one is just around the corner. This year whizzed by. What will 2020 bring??

On a bright side, as of today, only 66 days until spring!!

Staying in the present, thought I’d conclude 2019 with something a bit special. Uni/sea urchin roe — the delicate, edible meat inside the weirdly, spiky sea creature known as a sea urchin — is probably not on most people’s radar. I stumbled upon uni at my local fish market here in Philly and just couldn’t resist (like a shiny pair of new shoes).

Some people like sweet, some prefer spicy, some sour, and some bitter, but I’ve always been enamored by that briny goodness of all things that come out of the sea (maybe I was a fish or, better yet, a dolphin, in a former life?). Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but urchin’s strong salty, ocean-y aroma, with its thick, creamy, rich, unctuous, and buttery texture is something I treasure. Usually found delicately draped on top of sushi, uni can also be used in sauces, spread like butter, used in pastas or on rice.

And while you can certainly serve this creation (i.e., uni pasta) with store bought pasta, I went the extra mile with a batch of homemade pasta (alla chitarra) with duck eggs for extra richness.

The sauce is simple, nothing more than uni blended with a little olive oil and subsequently thinned with some pasta cooking water; the pasta is then tossed in a pan until the uni butter just coats each strand.

Topped with a few whole lobes of uni, nori strips, julienned shiso, and some shichimi togarashi (a Japanese, mildly spicy, citrus-y spice blend) brings it all together. Hope you give it a try and enjoy!

Now, time to start planning my menu for 2020.

Uni (sea urhcin roe) + olive oil + togarashi = 🙂

Homemade duck egg pasta all chitarra…

Uni Pasta

serves 2
1 tray of uni (usually around 100 grams), 5 to 6 pieces reserved for garnish
Few pinches shichimi togarashi 
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
1/2 pound linguninni
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Fresh shiso, julienned
Nori, cut into thin strips

In a food processor, combine the urchin roe and shichimi togarashi. Slowly add the olive oil until you have a smooth purée. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving the pasta cooking water.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When just melted, add the pasta and toss to coat. Add the uni purée and some of the pasta cooking water, a little at a time until it forms a creamy sauce (I added around 1/2 cup total). Toss the pasta until just heated through. Taste for salt and season accordingly. Take off the heat.

Serve topped with the lobes of reserved uni, shiso, nori, and a sprinkling of togarashi.