Spaghetti with tuna heart

Sometimes you come across a dish in a restaurant that you’re still dreaming about days – or nights – later. Such a dish is spaghetti cuore di tonno by chef-patron Milan Gataric of Italian regional classic LUX in Rotterdam.

The secret, besides a raw egg yolk: shavings of dried tuna heart. Yes, you read that right: tuna heart. And it’s not scary, but delicious. Nose-to-heart eating, which is also good for Mother Earth. It resembles bottarga (dried grey mullet roe), also comes from Sardinia and is dried and salted in exactly the same way as fish roe. Because tuna heart is difficult to find here, you can also replace it with its bottarga cousin. It works perfectly from a flavour perspective.

Preparation

Cook the spaghetti al dente. Heat the oil with the shaved garlic clove, fennel seeds and hot pepper. Add the spaghetti. Mix everything well and immediately divide between the plates. Place the egg yolks in the centre and grate tuna heart (or bottarga) over them. Eat immediately!

You can buy bottarga online, among other places, at Salsamentum..

Recipe: Milan Gataric of restaurant LUX, Rotterdam
Photo: Ronald de Nijs