Chocolate pasta with caramel and pecans
This is really Anna del Conte’s recipe, only I in slovenly fashion use shop-bought chocolate pasta. The ready-made stuff is not available everywhere, but it is worth tracking down for this unconventional but intriguing sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 100g/3½oz cocoa or chocolate pasta
- pinch salt
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú pecans, roughly broken up
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú unsalted butter, softened
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú dark brown sugar
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream, plus extra to serve
Method
Put water on to boil for the pasta and, when it’s boiling, add a pinch of salt and cook the pasta, setting a timer for two minutes before the packet instructions say it will be ready.
Put a medium-sized, non-stick frying pan on the stove and tumble in the pecans, then toast them over a medium heat. Once you can smell their scent wafting up from the pan, remove them to a cold plate.
Now stir the butter and sugar together in the frying pan until you have a hot, treacly syrup. Carefully pour in the cream, stir and let the caramel mixture bubble up, add the toasted pecans and a pinch of salt, then turn off the heat.
Just before draining the pasta, lower in a cup to remove a little pasta-cooking water, then toss the drained pasta back into the frying pan with the dark and nutty butterscotch sauce, adding a tablespoon or two of the cooking water if needed to help coat the pasta. Stir to combine before dividing between two bowls. Serve with a little double cream in a small jug to pour over as you eat, if wished.
