Spaghetti with Rosemary Marinated Pork Slices and Toasted Pine Nuts

This is one of these days,

I turn away from rich and creamy sauces, where my palate get tired of it only after a few bites,

Instead, I'm trying to unlock a combination that can let each of the simple ingredients shine in my comfort dish - perfect for a long weekend lunch.

Spaghetti with rosemary marinated pork slices and toasted pine nuts -

Ingredients (3 to 4 portion)?

Marinade -
1 sprig of rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Little less than 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
28 to 30 pork slices
Some olive oil

Cook -
3 to 4 portions of spaghetti
1/4 medium onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves
4 to 5 fresh chili peppers
1/3 cup of pine nuts
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper

Finish/garnish -
1 lime
Some parsley
Some Tabasco sauce (optional)

How?

Since there will be no heavy tasting sauce for the spaghetti,
Fresh ingredients naturally become the key success factor of this dish -

Let's prep the pork slices first,
Finely chop 1 sprig of rosemary and transfer to a bowl,
Add the remaining marinade ingredients into the bowl together with the meat,
Add enough olive oil to evenly coat each pork slices,
Set aside and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes -

Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion,
Chop the chili peppers into smaller pieces.

Bring a big pot of water into a boil,
Add a few pinches of salt into the water and toss in the spaghetti,
Cook the pasta according to package instruction, preferably till al dente,
Once done, drain well but remember to save some pasta water for later use.

Heat up a grill pan,

Toss in pine nuts and toast it till slightly browned on all sides,

You'll know when it's ready when that wonderful nutty aroma start perfuming the kitchen,
Once done, transfer the nuts into a food processor and give it a few pulses.

Since the grill pan already got a tiny bit of oil and residual aroma from the pine nuts,
We'll just use the same pan to cook the pork slices,
Remember,
You don't have to brush extra olive oil onto the pan since the pork slices were already coated with it.

Couple minutes on each sides of the pork or till the meat get that yummy-looking burn marks,
Once done, set aside for later use -

Prepare another big pan,
Drizzle some olive oil and turn to medium high heat,
Add in chopped onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper, cook for 2 to 3 minutes,
Add the chopped garlic and chili peppers,
Cook till the aroma comes out but not burning the garlic.

Toss in grilled pork slices and toasted ground pine nuts,
Give it a quick stir, mix in the pasta,
Add more olive oil and/or pasta water if the mixture appears too dry,
Personally, I prefer using more olive oil than water because it adds more fruity flavor to the dish.
Taste the mixture and add more salt if needed.

Squeeze some fresh lime juice and garnish with parsley before serving,
You can definitely add chopped parsley instead of just using it as a garnish,
Serve with Tabasco sauce if you wanna bring the spiciness up to another level!

Happy Memorial Day!

Cindy's Rating: 8