Fusillone, Scampo, Sesamo Nero

LARGE FUSILLI, PRAWNS, BLACK SESAME, SERVES 4

A wildly inventive and surprising restaurant, Bros’ is in the hands of Chef Floriano Pellegrino, still in his twenties, and also the young and gifted pastry chef Isabella Potì. Their playful recipes usually feature at least one rogue ingredient. Here we get to play with toasted black sesame seeds (I order them online). He recommends Gentile fusillone, made in Naples, but large fusilli is widely available. The philosophy of the plate, Floriano wrote to me: “In this dish, we wanted to use in a different way the usual toasted broth soup, combining vinegared shallot with bitter black sesame.” For the broth, I recommend first sautéing the shells in olive oil, then adding 1 cup of water.

• 16 raw prawns, scampi, or large shrimp, shelled and cut in half lengthwise (reserve shells)

• Salt, QB

• ½ cup white wine vinegar

• 4 shallots, thinly sliced

• ½ pound toasted black sesame seeds

• 5 tablespoons sunflower oil

• 1 cup broth

• ¾ pound fusillone

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Fine salt, QB

Make a broth with the shells by simmering them with salt in a small pan of water for 30 minutes.

Pour the white wine vinegar into a small bowl. Add the shallots to the vinegar.

Toast the black sesame seeds in a 300ºF oven on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 4 minutes. When cool, emulsify with sunflower oil in a food processor.

Cook the fusillone al chiodo, nail hard, in enough boiling salted water and 1 cup of the broth.

Sauté the scampi for about 3 minutes in the olive oil.

Serve with sesame sauce on the bottom, then the fusillone and prawns, and finish with the shallots in vinegar.

Bros’, Lecce, Puglia