The story
The Marmite spaghetti recipe originated, in its modern form, with Nigella Lawson in the early 2000s. She published it, the internet went mad about it for a fortnight, the Hate Party complained, the Love Party started cooking it on Wednesday nights, and twenty-odd years later it is one of the most reliable quick suppers in the British home cook’s repertoire.
If you have somehow never made it, here is the proper version.
Ingredients (for two)
- Two hundred grams of spaghetti (good-quality bronze-die spaghetti is worth the extra)
- Fifty grams of unsalted butter
- One to two teaspoons of Marmite (start with one if you have not made it before, two if you know)
- One small clove of garlic, finely grated
- Fifty grams of parmesan, freshly grated
- Black pepper
Salt for the pasta water, but no salt for the sauce. The Marmite and the parmesan have it covered.
Method
Bring a large pot of properly salted water (a heaped tablespoon of salt is the right amount, the pasta water should taste of the sea) to a rolling boil. Drop in the spaghetti. Set a timer for one minute less than the packet instruction.
While the pasta cooks: melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat. Add the grated garlic, sweat for a minute, do not let it brown. Stir in the Marmite. It will resist for two or three seconds, then dissolve into the butter, turning the whole thing a glossy dark caramel.
When the pasta timer goes, lift out a coffee-mug-sized cup of the starchy pasta water before you drain. Drain the spaghetti (do not rinse, ever) and tip it straight back into the pot with the heat off.
Pour the Marmite butter over the pasta. Add a generous splash of the reserved pasta water (maybe sixty millilitres to start). Tip in the grated parmesan. Toss vigorously with tongs for thirty to forty-five seconds. The sauce should go from “liquid in the bottom” to “silky emulsion coating every strand” as the starch from the pasta water binds the butter and Marmite together. If it looks too dry, add another splash of pasta water and keep tossing.
Plate, grind black pepper over the top, serve immediately.
That is the whole recipe.
Notes
The pasta water matters. Without it, the sauce is just butter, Marmite, and parmesan sitting in the bottom of the pan refusing to come together. The starch in the pasta water is what turns three ingredients into a sauce. Do not skip it.
The dose. One teaspoon is mild, two is the proper full Marmite hit, anything more than two is too much for this dish. Start at one if you are nervous. You can always add another half teaspoon at the end.
The cheese. Real parmesan, grated yourself, from a block. The pre-grated parmesan in tubs is not parmesan, it is a different and inferior substance, and it will not melt into the sauce properly. Spend two extra quid on the block, grate it as you cook.
The pasta shape. Spaghetti is correct because the long strands trap the sauce. Penne and rigatoni do not work as well. Linguine is acceptable. Anything short is wrong.
The garlic is optional but improves it. Nigella’s original does not include garlic. I have added it in the version above because it lifts the dish slightly without overwhelming the Marmite. Skip it if you prefer the purer version.
What to drink with it
A glass of cold lager. Or a chilled, slightly acidic white (a young Sauvignon or a Picpoul). The dish is salty and rich, so you want something that cuts through rather than rests alongside.
That is dinner.
Source: Nigella Lawson, original recipe circa 2002; my own kitchen.
