Recipe: Pasta with onion ragù and parsley breadcrumbs (irresistible!)

Cookbook author Vanja van der Leeden won the Golden Cookbook in 2019 with her book ‘Indorock‘. After diving into Indonesian cuisine, Vanja is back. This time with new, swinging Italian recipes collected in Italopop. From pasta to pizza and antipasti to gelato: Italopop is the ideal cookbook for lovers of Italian cuisine who occasionally want to put something more adventurous on the table – with all the risks of angry Italian nonnas that entails.

Vanja: “This improvised pasta with a mountain of onions that needed using up previously appeared in my newsletter and on Instagram. Journalist Eva Hoeke (a brilliant writer, a tiny kitchen princess) saw the ingredient list, read the description and thought: I should be able to make this. And she certainly could. It became a resounding success; she made it time and again, and the pasta even ended up in her column for Volkskrant Magazine. So this pasta is a little famous.

It reminds me most of pasta genovese. ‘Issa notta pasta witha da pesto’ is what Neapolitan waiters constantly have to explain to tourists. So what is it? A pasta with a ragù of meat and sweetly braised onions that, despite its name, does not come from Genoa but from Naples (probably something to do with Genoese cooks at the Neapolitan court). Pasta genovese is divine, but this vegetarian pasta is every bit as good. Especially if you add a teaspoon of miso, which gives it an incredibly rich flavour.”

How to make pasta with onion ragù and parsley breadcrumbs

• Peel the onions, halve them and cut them into half rings. Not too thick, not too thin. Heat a large cast-iron pan. Add the butter and let it melt. Add the onion rings and fry, tossing, until translucent. Add the salt and now let them caramelise, stirring occasionally. Really only stir occasionally, otherwise the onions will not brown nicely. Take your time with this, at least 30 minutes.
• When the onions are nicely browned, add the Worcestershire sauce. Let them continue to braise / fry until the onions are even darker. Strip the thyme leaves from the sprigs and add them.
• When the onions are really dark in colour (after at least 45 minutes), add the miso paste if using and deglaze with the wine. Let the alcohol evaporate and turn the heat down low.
• Prepare the breadcrumbs: grind the bread into crumbs in the mini chopper attachment of the immersion blender. Finely chop the parsley with a sharp knife, add it to the breadcrumbs and give everything another quick whizz with the olive oil until the crumbs are green.
• Fry them in a dry frying pan until dry and crisp.
• In another pan, cook the pasta in well-salted water until al dente. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta, with some cooking water clinging to it, from the pan and add it to the onion ragù. Stir everything together. If necessary, add another splash of cooking water to create a lovely sauce. Sprinkle with parsley breadcrumbs and serve with Parmesan.

Title: Italopop
Author: Vanja van der Leeden
Price: €39.99
Publisher: Nijgh & van Ditmar

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• 10 tips for the best pasta
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