Aubergine and Tuna Pasta with Ripe Tomatoes, made with FlareLine “KASUMI GLOW”

FlareLine “KASUMI GLOW” is a blend of eight, laying highland red sanshō and habanero over the savoury depth of shiitake and kombu. On top of the savour of tuna and tomato, the dry savour of shiitake adds one more layer.

The tingle of sanshō is delicate with heat, so it goes in after the flame is out. Dropped into a pan whose temperature has come down, the tingle and the aroma stay and cling to the pasta. The heat of habanero settles behind them.

Dish Symphony No.1 works here too. The toasted note of paprika and its earthy sweetness lean towards rounding off the acidity of the ripe tomatoes. In place of the sanshō tingle, the sharpness of black pepper stays behind. Either one, as you prefer.

The aubergine is never soaked in water. Cut it and sear it straight away in an oiled pan. Once the cut faces have taken on oil, the purple stays instead of bleeding into the sauce.

Total time: about 30 min

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• FlareLine “KASUMI GLOW”, or Dish Symphony No.1: 1 tsp
• Pasta: 200 g
• Aubergine: 2
• Tinned tuna (in oil): 1 tin (70 g)
• Tomatoes: 2 (about 400 g)
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Olive oil: 2 tbsp
• Salt: 2/3 tsp
• Salt for the pasta water: 1 tbsp (to 2 L of water)
• Shiso leaves: 4 (optional)

Choose tomatoes where the red has reached right round the stalk. On a day when the only ones on the shelf still have some green, stand them stalk-down at room temperature for two or three days and the red will come round. If the acidity still stands out, add a pinch of sugar at step 4.

Preparation

1. Trim the stalks from the aubergines, halve them lengthways, then cut them on the diagonal 1 cm thick. Do not soak them in water. Do not peel them.
2. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes. Leave the skins on.
3. Chop the garlic finely.
4. The tuna goes in with its oil, so do not drain the tin.
5. If you are using shiso, trim the stems and cut it into fine shreds. The scent escapes from the moment you cut it, so cut it just before serving.

Instructions

1. Bring 2 L of water to the boil in a pan and add the salt (1 tbsp).
2. Put the olive oil (2 tbsp) and the garlic into a frying pan over low heat. When fine bubbles come up around the edges, just before it takes colour, add the aubergine.
3. Turn the heat to medium and fry for about 3 minutes, until the cut faces have coloured. Once the cut faces have taken on oil, the purple stays even after simmering.
4. Add the tomatoes, the tuna (oil and all) and the salt (2/3 tsp), and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat. The tomatoes break down and liquid gathers in the base of the pan.
5. Start cooking the pasta as the packet directs. Allowing for the time it finishes in the sauce, lift it out one minute short of the stated time.
6. Set aside 4 tbsp of the cooking water, then move the pasta into the frying pan. Add the reserved water and bring the pasta and sauce together over medium heat for 1 minute, shaking the pan.
7. Take the pan off the heat, scatter over the spices (1 tsp) and fold them through with the residual warmth. The sanshō tingle and the habanero heat in KASUMI GLOW stay if you add them here. Do the same if you are using Dish Symphony No.1: paprika burns in oil at high temperatures, so dropping it into the residual warmth keeps the toasted note.
8. Taste, and if it needs it, add salt a pinch at a time. Serve, and top with the shiso if you like. It is just as good with nothing on top at all.

Do not drain the oil from the tuna tin. Both the savour of the fish and the oil go straight into the sauce. On a day when you use tuna in brine rather than in oil, add another tablespoon of olive oil.

Neither KASUMI GLOW nor Dish Symphony No.1 contains salt, so keep the salt at what you would normally use. For both, 1 tsp is the baseline — go up from there as you like.

KASUMI GLOW contains habanero. On a day when you are eating with small children, cut the amount you fold through to a pinch and shake the rest over the adults’ bowls only. If it is your first time, start with less and add it at the table.

KASUMI GLOW contains white sesame. Please take care if you have a sesame allergy. Dish Symphony No.1 uses no allergens.