This pasta features a variety of flavors, including garlic, ginger, tahini (sesame paste), sherry and sherry vinegar, and more. The dish is finished off with grated fresh carrot on the top, mimicking fresh grated cheese on top of an Italian pasta dish. A nice salad with Tahini Asian Dressing works well as a side to this dish. (I modified this dish from Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, cutting much of the oil and adding more spice and the grated carrot.)
3 to 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (depending on your love for garlic)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1/4 cup low sodium tamari (good quality soy sauce)
2 tablespoons sherry (if you store your ginger in sherry as mentioned here, use that sherry)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, use more if you like it spicy)
1 tablespoon dark/toasted sesame oil
Fresh ground black pepper
Pinch of ground cayenne
1/2 pound spaghetti or spaghettini
1/2 cup reserved water from cooking the pasta
1 to 2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers (depending on size), julienned
2 green onions (any color), sliced or 2 garlic scapes, sliced
1 carrot
Place the garlic and ginger in a food processor.
Add the olive oil, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, sherry, sherry vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, fresh ground black pepper (about 1/8 teaspoon), and cayenne.
Puree the sauce. Set aside, allowing the flavors to mingle.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a large handful of kosher salt to the boiling water.
Add the pasta to the pot and boil until al dente, following the package instructions. Before straining the pasta, carefully scoop 1/2 cup of cooking water.
Strain the pasta, add 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water to the bottom of the pan, and return hot pasta to the pan.
Immediately add sauce to the pan and toss with the pasta.
Add the julienned peppers and scallions or garlic scapes and toss. Add more of the reserved pasta water if it’s too thick.
Using a cheese grater or Microplane style grater, grate the carrot over the top of the pasta like cheese.
Serves 4