Crunchy garlic-rusk pasta (Skordomakaronada)

"This rustic pasta dish calls for a sprinkling of dried rusk crumbs and speaks to the ingenuity of Greek island cooks, who used this simple technique to mimic the texture of ground meat. The recipe dates to older, poorer times, but it’s still delicious and a vegetarian’s delight!"

Credit: My Greek Table

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into thin slivers
• 4 large tomatoes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• ½ tsp sugar
• 500 g (1 lb) spaghetti
• ½ Mykonos or other barley rusk (mostra), ground into hard crumbs, in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle (see Note)
• 1 cup Mykonos kopanisti cheese, optional (see Note)
• ½ cup chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Grate the tomato on coarse side of a hand grater.
2. Heat 90 ml (4½ tablespoons) of the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat and add the garlic slivers. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until soft. Add the grated tomatoes, raise the heat to medium and cook until most of the tomato juices have evaporated, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add salt, pepper and sugar.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook the spaghetti to al dente.
4. Serve the cooked and drained spaghetti topped or mixed with the sauce and sprinkled with rusk crumbs and parsley. Top, if desired, with a spoonful of kopanisti cheese (or feta, see Note).

Note

• You can also use lightly toasted, large dried breadcrumbs instead of rusk crumbs over the top.

• Kopanisti is a spreadable, salty-peppery cheese, made with a mixture of cow, sheep and goat cheese on Mykanos and other islands of the Cyclades. You can use feta instead of the kopanisti, or other cheese of your choice.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.