Cafe Catalina

My addiction to Lucban longanisa is no secret. I think it is perfection in all its garlicky glory.

Tonight, I used it in my aglio-olio pasta to recreate 1st Colonial Grill’s Guinobatan Longanisa pasta. I tasted this pasta in February when we were in Bicol and it was love at first bite. All the flavours of the longanisa, olive oil and garlic melded perfectly with the right amount of heat.

I thought was simple to recreate; I managed to take a picture of the menu and it had a very short ingredient list. Just my kind of dish 😉

I tried it and it was perfect! Not! OMG, this thing was soooo spicy. I got carried away with the siling labuyo. I should have put in only one piece instead of two. I could feel my lips swelling like Angelina Jolie’s with every bite. Still, fire aside, it was honest-to-goodness yummy and this will be one of my go-to dishes from now on.

You will need (2 servings) :
200 grams dry spaghetti
4 pieces Lucban longanisa, casings removed
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 piece siling labuyo (red chili pepper), chopped
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Chopped parsley (optional)

Let’s cook!
1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain but reserve some pasta water.
2. In a pan, heat half of the oil and cook longanisa, stirring to break longanisa into small bits.
3. Add the remaining oil and reduce heat to low.
4. Heat garlic until soft, but not burnt. Add siling labuyo and saute for 30 seconds.
5. Remove from heat and toss in cooked pasta. Add a bit of the pasta water if you find it a bit dry.
6. Top with parmesan cheese and parsley.

Also today, my colleague Kevin brought a box of Londres from his hometown of Bauan, Batangas. Apparently, Bauan is the only town that makes this kind of bread. He has been talking about it for a long time and I was not disappointed! It is like chewy biscocho with a sprinkling of pink sugar. It is perfect with hot coffee — Barako even better!

I told myself over the weekend that I will not eat anything in between meals. Then I had to be introduced to Londres — ah well, my diet starts tomorrow 🙂
In other news, I am depressed. I am all out of Nutella — took me less than a month to finish the largest jar. My doctor must be happy now.

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