Mezzi Rigatoni white butter, red shrimp and caper powder

A French classic, in the background, the Sicilian sea, in the foreground. It is a dialogue between the pasta and the other ingredients which this dish brings out, a structured but harmonious combination of aristocratic whispers and sonorous island voices, winter evocations and the southern summer sun as autumn nears. The white butter’s graceful acidity (a French fish and seafood sauce) binds together the pasta and the prawn pulp whose iodized sweetness is mirrored in the brininess of the capers, which are as toasted and aromatic as coffee.
Their rough grooves mean that the mezzi rigatoni get permeated with white butter which also gets into their cylindrical cavities, also large enough for a few pieces of prawn. The smallish shape and size of the pasta makes it perfect to fish out of the dish with a spoon, together with the seafood.