Uni Pasta (Japanese Creamy Sea Urchin Spaghetti)

1. Start boiling 4 quarts (16 cups, 3.8 L) of water in a large pot. Gather all the ingredients.

To Cook the Pasta

1. Once the water is boiling, add 1½ Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt to the cooking water. Then, add 8 oz spaghetti. Stir to make sure the noodles don‘t stick to each other. Cook 1 minute less than the package instructions (the pasta will cook a bit more with the sauce). 

To Cut the Ingredients

1. While you wait for the spaghetti to cook (about 10 minutes), start preparing the ingredients and then make the sauce. Mince 1 clove garlic (I used a garlic press) and 1 shallot. You will need about 3–4 Tbsp minced shallot. My shallot was large, so I reserved the rest for another use.

To Make the Pasta Sauce

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Once it‘s warm, add 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and evenly coat the pan. Then, add the minced garlic and ¼ tsp crushed red pepper (red pepper flakes). Sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Do not use high heat; otherwise, the garlic and pepper flakes will burn.
2. Add the minced shallot and sauté until translucent.
3. Add 2 Tbsp white wine and mix it together.
4. Add ¼ cup heavy (whipping) cream and combine well together.
5. Add ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper and mix well.
6. Add 3 oz uni (sea urchin) to the pan, reserving some pieces for garnish. Use a wooden spatula to break up the uni into the cream mixture to form a smooth sauce, leaving some small chunks for texture.
7. Taste the sauce and season with salt and black pepper, if needed. If your spaghetti is not done cooking, take your pan of sauce off the heat and cover with a lid so the sauce does not evaporate and thicken.
8. When the noodles are done cooking, collect 2 Tbsp reserved pasta water. Then, either transfer the noodles to the sauce in the pan with tongs or drain the spaghetti into a colander before adding it to the sauce. Toss to evenly coat the spaghetti with the sauce, adding some or all of the reserved pasta water to enrich the sauce. You don‘t want the spaghetti to absorb all the sauce here, so work quickly.

To Serve

1. Transfer the Uni Pasta to individual plates and garnish with the reserved 6 pieces uni (sea urchin) and 2 Tbsp shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori)(optional).

To Store

1. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. I don‘t recommend freezing the leftovers.