Spaghetti al Berberė (vegan)

One of my favorite meals when traveling by bus through the Ethiopian Highlands was Ethiopian-style spaghetti. I lived in Addis Abeba at the time, and there Italian food was beautifully faithful to Italian standards. (I'm still looking for a decent pizza place all these years later!) But in the countryside what Italian food there was made more in keeping with local tastes!

I was told that spaghetti bolognese was introduced when the Italians built the [at the time] main roads linking the cities of northern Ethiopia. Following the defeat of the Italians at the end of World War II spaghetti stayed on - as did many of the Italians, at Emperor Haile Silase's request - and of course was gradually ethiopianized to better fit local tastes.

What follows is my vegan/fasting recreation of that spaghetti al berberė, modified to make it a quick option for lunch or dinner at home. If there are any Ethiopians out there reading this who know how to make proper Ethiopian-style spaghetti, please feel free to leave corrections/suggestions in the comments! It's been years since I was able to visit Ethiopia, I'm always happy for someone to correct my rusty memories!

Spaghetti al Berberė (vegan)

(5 servings)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large red onion (chopped)

5 cloves of garlic (crushed/minced)

4 to 6 tablespoons of berberé

640ml / 22oz of pasta sauce*

Black pepper (to taste)

Parsley (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Spaghetti** (as needed)

1/2 cup of pasta water

Parmesan (if desired)

Injera (if available)

*I generally use something with extra garlic and vegetables if possible.

**I prefer the flavor and chew of multigrain, but to each their own!

Directions

1) Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the chopped onion until translucent before adding the garlic and sautéing another couple minutes.

2) Add the berberé and sauté for a couple of minutes until a paste - often a bit crumbly and dry - develops and the whole house is fragrant with the cooking smells of the Highlands!

3) Add the pasta sauce and remaining seasonings. I find that the pre-made pasta sauces have plenty of salt for me, but if you're hellbent on destroying your body, then by all means add more salt now! Now is also the time to pop the spaghetti in a pot of boiling water.

4) Once the spaghetti is close to your preferred tenderness remove half a cup of water from the pot with the spaghetti to incorporate into the spaghetti sauce.

5) Drain your spaghetti and serve as is with the spaghetti sauce or if you really want to be authentic, pull out some of the injera you just got from your local Ethiopian store or restaurant and a large serving plate. (Injera sizes vary quite a bit in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Diasporas, so find a plate big enough to fit a large unrolled injera, bubbly side up.) In my experience the spaghetti is cut - scissors work well for this! - into about 5-centimeter/2-inch pieces and then served already mixed with the sauce in three or four little mounds on top of the injera. (You could make a mound per person to simplify the sharing.) Put rolled injera halves on the sides of the plate for whoever's joining you for dinner, and enjoy as is or with some parmesan on top!