Petit Riz

We traveled to Japan last November for our honeymoon. We’ve often described the trip as a “once in a lifetime experience,” and now that we’re confined to our home in Brooklyn, those three weeks in Japan have taken on a mythical quality. The ease and lightness with which we journeyed around the country, from Tokyo to Kamakura to Kanazawa, feels far away. This morning it was announced that the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed until 2021. Every day, like everyone else, I wake up to a shifted landscape, and I can’t help but be reminded of the morning after the 2016 election, the reconfiguration of our lives so sudden and strange.

I haven’t written here in a while. I’d been working on a long post on the food we ate in Japan—our favorite restaurants, the small cafés in the middle of nowhere, the tuna mayonnaise onigiri from 7-Eleven. I can’t bring myself to finish it just now. Hopefully soon. For now, though, I can offer a spaghetti recipe for a simple dinner I prepared the other night.

Like many who are practicing social distancing, we’ve been turning to pantry recipes, and because Geoffroy loves pasta, we’ve indulged in pasta dinners several times a week. What I love most about a pantry pasta is how quickly and easily it comes together, often in 30 to 40 minutes with minimal cleanup, as you can prepare the ingredients while the water comes to a boil and get started on the sauce while the pasta cooks. We’ll always have a refreshing salad on the side. Geoffroy takes charge of the salad—usually a combination of arugula with sliced Persian cucumbers and apples, and a strong Dijon mustard dressing, true to his Bourguignon origins.

Use the list of ingredients as a guide, and feel free to substitute with whatever you have in your own pantry. Sardines or mackerel for the tuna; regular raisins for the golden raisins; any kind of leafy green (Swiss chard, Lacinato kale, broccoli rabe) or even a handful of chopped parsley for the baby spinach; toasted pine nuts, almonds, or hazelnuts for the pistachios; a splash of sherry vinegar for lemon; a tablespoon of tomato paste for the sundried tomatoes. You can also play around with the ratios of the sauce ingredients.

Spaghetti with Sundried Tomatoes, Tuna, and Spinach

8–12 oz thin spaghetti (use less spaghetti if you prefer a higher ratio of sauce to pasta)
Coarse salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ cup sundried tomatoes, packed in olive oil, drained and cut in half
¼ cup golden raisins
5 oz baby spinach or baby kale
Freshly ground pepper
1 can or jar tuna, packed in olive oil, drained
¼ cup toasted pistachios, coarsely chopped or left whole
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Squeeze of lemon

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until golden and softened, about 3 minutes. Lower heat if garlic is browning too quickly; you don’t want it to burn. Add tomatoes and raisins and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high. Add spinach, one handful at a time, stirring to wilt. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tuna, breaking up with a wooden spoon, followed by pistachios. Keep warm over low heat as spaghetti finishes cooking. The flavors will continue to meld.

Meanwhile, once water has come to a boil, add spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than package instructions. Bring the large skillet close to the pot and transfer spaghetti to skillet with tongs. Add ¼ cup pasta water to the skillet and cook spaghetti over medium-high heat, tossing and stirring with tongs, until al dente and coated in sauce, about 2 minutes. Stir in basil leaves and squeeze lemon over spaghetti. (I use about ¼ lemon but add to your liking.) Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

My favorite way to eat this dish is as leftovers the next day: Heat a splash of olive oil in a nonstick skillet and cook spaghetti until golden and crispy, stirring occasionally. The greens become crispy and the raisins and tomatoes take on a beautiful sweetness. I’ll sometimes add more raisins and pistachios and fresh greens along with some lemon juice or zest.