Artist’s Palate: Paola Pivi’s pasta with sea urchin

Wildlife is a recurring ingredient for Italy-born, Alaska-based multimedia artist Paola Pivi – from the feather-festooned polar bears that took up residence in Galerie Perrotin’s New York space for its opening in 2013 to the taxidermy wildcats, llamas and birds that appear in other of her sculptures and installations. Her preferred dish, a simple yet decadent pasta recipe, does something just as transformative with sea urchins. Pivi favours the Italian version, with fewer ingredients than its Anglo-Saxon rivals. Sea urchin, pasta, seasoning, done.

Ingredients
200g sea urchins
500g pasta
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh parsley

Method
Open the sea urchins with a knife and extract the eggs. Boil the pasta in salted boiling water until cooked, then cool under running water. Drain and transfer to a salad bowl. Mix in some olive oil, then disperse the sea urchin eggs on top. Season with salt and pepper, add some parsley, snipped into small pieces, then mix thoroughly. Serve warm.