Jollof Pasta
Aperçu
Pasta cooked into a spiced tomato and pepper stew in the same way jollof rice is made, with beef and shrimp. It is West African, and no single country is claimed. The idea is a straightforward transposition and it works. Jollof rice is rice cooked in a reduced, heavily seasoned tomato and pepper base until the grains absorb it; jollof pasta does the same with pasta, and jollof couscous and jollof spaghetti are made the same way. The key is the same in all of them: fry the stew properly and reduce it to a thick paste before the starch goes in. The source is emphatic about this and right, under-fried stew gives a watery, sharp result that no amount of later cooking corrects. The title needs a note. The page is called tagliatelle pasta and the article explains what tagliatelle is at some length, but the ingredient list specifies thin spaghetti. Neither is wrong for the dish, jollof pasta is made with whatever shape is to hand, but the mismatch is worth stating, and the title here names the dish rather than a pasta shape that may not be in your cupboard. Allspice, curry powder and chicken bouillon alongside chilli is the Nigerian seasoning signature. **It contains shrimp, which the title does not indicate.**
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Jollof pasta applies the method of jollof rice, a starch cooked into a reduced, heavily seasoned tomato and pepper stew until it absorbs the sauce, to pasta. Jollof couscous and jollof spaghetti are made the same way across West Africa.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Warm the oil in a medium saucepan and put in the shrimp with the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, curry powder, allspice, paprika and chicken bouillon powder. Cook for 5 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink.
- 2
Take the shrimp out and set them aside. Put in the beef and cook for 5 minutes.
- 3
Mix in the chopped onion, tomato paste and blended tomatoes, then pour in the chicken stock. Cook until the beef is tender and the sauce has reduced by about half and thickened to a paste: 15 to 20 minutes depending on the beef.
- 4
Turn the sauce occasionally so it does not burn. Once reduced, taste and adjust the salt. Frying and reducing the stew properly at this stage is what separates good jollof pasta from watery pasta in tomato sauce.
- 5
Tip in the cooked pasta and return the shrimp to the pan.
- 6
Cover and cook for 3 minutes over low to medium heat, so the pasta absorbs the sauce.
- 7
Serve hot.
Notes de l’Africook
- Reduce the stew to a thick paste before the pasta goes in. This is the whole technique and skipping it gives you a watery, sharp dish.
- This contains shrimp. The title says nothing about it, so mention it when serving.
- Cook the pasta slightly under, since it carries on absorbing sauce in the pan.
- Salt the pasta water generously, it is the only chance to season the pasta from within.
- Take the shrimp out after the first 5 minutes and return them at the end, or they turn rubbery.
- Any pasta shape works. Jollof pasta is made with spaghetti, penne, macaroni and tagliatelle alike.
Questions fréquentes
What makes pasta jollof?
The method rather than the shape. Jollof rice is rice cooked into a reduced, heavily seasoned tomato and pepper stew until it absorbs the sauce, and jollof pasta applies exactly that to pasta, the same base of blended tomato, pepper, onion, curry powder and bouillon, reduced hard before the starch goes in. Jollof couscous and jollof spaghetti work the same way, and all of them stand or fall on how well the stew is fried.
Why is the title different from the recipe?
The original page was called tagliatelle pasta and its article explains at length what tagliatelle is, but its ingredient list specifies thin spaghetti. Neither is wrong for a jollof pasta, which is made with whatever shape is available, but the mismatch is confusing. The title here names the dish instead of a pasta shape, and the URL is unchanged so search traffic still arrives.
Why does the stew need to be reduced so much?
Because the pasta absorbs the sauce rather than sitting in it. A thin, under-fried stew produces pasta in watery tomato liquid with a sharp raw-tomato edge; a properly reduced one produces pasta that has taken on the sauce and tastes seasoned all the way through. The source is emphatic on this point and is right, it is the single most common failure in jollof of any kind.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Yes. Leave out the beef and shrimp, use vegetable stock in place of chicken stock, and a vegetable bouillon powder. The sauce carries the dish, and mushrooms or roasted vegetables folded in at the end keep it substantial. The seasoning, allspice, curry powder, chilli, paprika, is what makes it recognisably West African, and none of that changes.
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