Today I felt like one of those kids who plays hookie, but then gets really spoiled. Granted I stay home and work from my kitchen every day, but today I really felt naughty. Yesterday I somehow hurt my foot, and can barely walk. I have been limping all over the place and am trying to take it easy. So for lunch, I made this dish of Spaghetti with Sunchoke Sauce with anchovies, capers and tuna. It was so divinely delicious that I found myself licking the plates and pots shamelessly. It reminded me of when I was little and would stay home sick from school. I would always get to eat macaroni and cheese on those days, because it was my mom’s only allowance of junk food. I would eat the whole thing and lick everything to my hearts content.
My special dish today was not junk food at all, in fact it was incredibly healthy. I made a puree of boiled sunchokes with anchovies and lemon juice, and then mixed it with the pasta cooking water to give it a creamy consistency. Afterwards, I added about 1 teaspoon of capers and water-packed tuna fish, and stirred it all together. It was one of the best things that I have eaten in a really long time. I bought sunchokes at the farmers market the other day. They were extra bulby, and so I asked the farmer the best way to peel them. His advice to me was “don’t”. My training makes me want to peel everything, but if I had tried to peel these sunchokes there would have been nothing left. I cut them up into even pieces and boiled them with the skin on. Sunchokes have the flavor of artichokes, but with a much more creamy consistency- it is like eating the pure heart. I added the capers and anchovies for their salty flavor, and the tuna to give it some body. It was so simple, yet I feel soooo much better!