Makarony po-Flotski s Kolbasoy

Makarony po-Flotski s Kolbasoy

Recipes with Doktorskaya Kolbasa

Navy-style pasta: a Soviet standby named for Russian naval mess halls, where it was made with minced meat. The household version uses whatever is available, and Doktorskaya Kolbasa, chopped and fried with onion, works as well as anything. Short pasta, fried diced sausage, onion, a ladleful of pasta water to bind it. Five ingredients, fifteen minutes. This was lunch in ten thousand Soviet apartments every weekday.

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

15 min

Servings

2

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

  • 200g short pasta (penne, macaroni, or rigatoni)
  • 200g Doktorskaya Kolbasa, diced small (5mm cubes)
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 80ml pasta cooking water
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Optional: 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Steps

1

Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water until just tender. Reserve 80ml of the cooking water before draining.

2

While the pasta cooks, fry the onion in sunflower oil over medium heat until soft and golden, about 7 minutes.

3

Add the diced Doktorskaya to the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the sausage pieces brown on at least two sides.

4

If using tomato paste, stir it in now and cook 1 minute.

5

Add the drained pasta to the pan. Pour in the reserved pasta water. Toss over high heat until the liquid reduces to a thin glaze coating the pasta. Season with black pepper and taste for salt.

Tips

The pasta water is the sauce. Without the starch it carries, the dish is dry. Some Soviet-era recipes add a tablespoon of ketchup instead of tomato paste, which is acceptable. Serve in a deep bowl, not a plate: this is not a refined dish.