Lemon and caper Pasta with herby pangrattato

This is one of my favourite things I've ever made. Period. No negotiations. It's so simple but so full of flavour and texture that I keep making it again and again and again. The crunch of the salty, herby pangrattato with the silkiness of the olive oil and lemon juice coated pasta make it unbelievably morish.

The pangrattato is a bit of a labour of love and requires some time in front of the stove but I find if you make a batch you use it on everything. You could sprinkle it over a fresh salad, crumb cauliflower in it for a tasty snack or throw it over some pasta like in this recipe. It's well worth it.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

200g pasta

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teas chilli flakes

4 cloves of garlic

4 tabs capers

Salt and pepper

For the pangrattato

1 cup fresh sourdough breadcrumbs (I blitz a loaf of sourdough that has seen better days in a food processor to make these)

1 tabs chopped rosemary

1 tabs thyme leaves

50mls olive oil

1 teas crushed garlic

Salt and pepper

Method

To make the pangrattato, add the olive oil to a medium sized pan and heat over low-medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring frequently, for 15-20 mins until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crisp. It's a bit of a labour of love but is definitely worth it. Set aside in a bowl lined with paper towel.

For the pasta, put a pot of salted water on to boil and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions minus 1 minute because we want it slightly undercooked before we add it to the pan.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a frypan (note that the frypan needs to be large enough to hold all the pasta later) over low-medium heat. Add the garlic and capers and cook for about 5 mins or until the garlic is softened and just starting to brown and the capers are getting crispy. Keep the heat low for this part because you DO NOT want to burn your garlic. After 5 mins add the chilli flakes.

Using a pair of tongs, move the cooked pasta across to the pan from the pot of water. You want to bring some of the pasta water with you so don't worry about draining it too much. Stir it all together so that the oil coats the pasta. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pasta, season with salt and pepper and add the lemon zest. Keep stirring until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta looks glossy and coated (it should only take about 2 mins). If it's feeling dry, add a spoonful or two of pasta water and keep stirring.

Put the pasta on a plate and top generously with the pangrattato, chopped fresh parsley and parmesan.