Spaghetti alla Bottarga

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil and salt it with 1 tsp coarse sea salt — go lighter than usual, as the bottarga is already very salty.
2. Peel the outer wax or membrane from the bottarga if still on. Grate 20 g of it finely on a Microplane into a bowl, and set aside 5 g in a piece to shave over at the table.
3. Warm 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a wide frying pan over the lowest heat with 1 thinly sliced garlic clove and 1 pinch dried chilli flakes. Let them infuse 2–3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold at the edges only — browned garlic will make the dish bitter. Slide the pan off the heat.