Festive Fusilli Recipe

By popular demand here is the recipe for the vodka pasta I made for NBH's Aunt's 50th. Personally I hate parsley so I just ignored it. I marinated some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in olive oil and seasoning overnight, grilled them up and added them into the pasta, too. I would add more mascarpone next time I make this but I love cheese. Also this make a freaking TON of pasta. I would suggest 1/2 the recipe.

Festive Fusilli from 'Nigella Express' by Nigella Lawson

You can think of this either as a soaking up end-of-party meal for the hard core who managed to stay the course, or as a festive but unfussy supper you can get together quickly after some seasonal get-together or outing.

Should you be lucky enough to have any left over, this is a superb post-party breakfast forked straight from a container in the fridge.

And by 'sunblush' tomatoes, I mean those ones that are halfway between fresh and dried and come soaked in a seasoned oil in deli-counters.

1kg fusilli or other short pasta of your choice

600g sunblush tomatoes in seasoned oil

80ml vodka

2 tsp Maldon salt or 1 tsp table salt

2 tsp sugar

250g mascarpone

40g (2 x 20g packets) curly parsley, chopped

Flaked Parmesan to serve

1 Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

2 Take about 150g of the sunblush tomatoes and chop them finely. I use my mezzaluna here, as you can really mulch them.

3 Put the chopped tomatoes into a bowl with the remaining tomatoes, along with the vodka, salt and sugar. Leave to steep while you cook the fusilli.

4 Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, then drain and put back in the pan with the mascarpone, mixing well over low to medium heat.

5 Tip the steeped tomato mixture and half the chopped parsley into the pan, mixing well.

6 Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan flakes and the remaining parsley.

Serves 10-12