Posted by Liana Marabini
The iconic Artist who left us, Prince, author of “Purple Rain”, used to be a spiritual man. I always liked his quotes, this among all: “Everyday I feel is a blessing from God. And I consider it a new beginning. Yeah, everything is beautiful”.
He had an eclectic relationship with food. He comes from humble origins. When he was a child, Prince couldn’t afford to eat fast food, so he’d stand outside McDonald’s on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis just to smell the food. Which is ironic, because through the years he became a PETA-endorsed vegan who won’t “eat anything with parents”.
Some of his favorite meals were spinaches salted with garlic and olive oil; eggplants Parmigiana vegan (with no cheese); cream of broccoli…
But above all, he liked pasta. He loved spaghetti, in all their variants of tastes and sauces. He used to drink orange juice with them: Yes, orange juice.
I pay tribute to Prince in my own way, dedicating him a recipe I’ve created in his memory: “Purple Spaghetti”. Here is the recipe, very simple and very tasty:
Ingredients for 4 persons: 300 gr spaghetti – 2 fresh beetroots peeled and washed – parsley – 1 clove garlic – chilli – 2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation: Boil the beetroots in salted water, drain them and chop them with the food processor. Keep hot the red water from the beetroots. Put the olive oil in a pan, add the chopped beetroots and a clove of garlic cut in half (soulless). Cook over low heat and season with salt, pepper and red chili to taste. While all cooks, chop the parsley. Cook the sauce for about 5 minutes and add finally the parsley. Apart cook the spaghetti al dente in the red water where you boiled the beetroots, drain them and toss them in the pan with the sauce. Serve hot.
Drink with it a chilled glass of Etna D.O.C. Bianco Superiore, a wine coming from a territory (Etna, in Sicily) that is closely tied to the biggest active volcano in Europe. You will celebrate in a proper way Prince, his Art and his spirituality. His “volcanicity”.
And I’ll finish on a nostalgic note, quoting him again: “Life is just a party and parties weren’t meant to last”.
