Jollof Pasta
Master Africook
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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.**
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.
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself.
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.
Take the shrimp out and set them aside. Put in the beef and cook for 5 minutes.
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.
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.
Tip in the cooked pasta and return the shrimp to the pan.
Cover and cook for 3 minutes over low to medium heat, so the pasta absorbs the sauce.
Serve hot.
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