There is a dish that turns up on tasting menus at the best seafood restaurants in the world, quietly commands a premium, and yet takes about twenty minutes to make at home: uni pasta. Silky strands of spaghetti coated in a warm, buttery sauce built around sea urchin — sweet, briny, and impossibly rich, like the ocean distilled into a spoonful. For years this was a treat you could only order out, because fresh uni is delicate and hard to find. Not anymore. With a jar of Poseidon Sea Urchin Roe Pulp in your fridge, restaurant-grade sea urchin spaghetti is a weeknight possibility.
What is uni, and why does it make such incredible pasta?
Uni is the Japanese name for the edible roe of the sea urchin — the soft, custardy interior prized across Japanese, Italian, and Mediterranean cooking. It has a flavor that is genuinely hard to compare to anything else: sweet and buttery up front, with a clean, saline finish that tastes purely of the sea. That natural richness is exactly why it belongs on pasta. When gently warmed and loosened with a little starchy cooking water, uni melts into a glossy sauce that clings to every strand, no cream required.
The Poseidon pulp is simply sea urchin roe and a touch of salt — no fillers, no preservatives — harvested in Sardinia, the region Italians consider the heartland for sea urchin. Because it comes ready to use, you skip the fiddly work of scooping tongues from spiny shells and get straight to the good part.
What you'll need (serves 2)
- 7 oz (200 g) dried spaghetti or linguine
- 1 jar (1.76 oz / 50 g) Poseidon Sea Urchin Roe Pulp
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or a good extra-virgin olive oil)
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- A pinch of chili flakes (optional)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or chives
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- A ladle or two of reserved pasta cooking water
- Optional finish: a pinch of grated bottarga
How to make sea urchin spaghetti
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until just al dente. Before draining, scoop out about a cup of the starchy cooking water and set it aside — this is the secret to a silky sauce.
- Build the uni butter. While the pasta cooks, melt the butter with the grated garlic in a wide pan over low heat. As soon as the garlic is fragrant (about a minute, don't let it brown), pull the pan off the heat. Stir in roughly two-thirds of the sea urchin pulp along with the lemon zest and let it sit for a moment so the flavors bloom.
- Loosen the sauce. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water to the pan and swirl until the uni butter turns into a glossy, pale-orange sauce. Keep the heat gentle — you want the roe warmed through, never bubbling hard.
- Toss. Add the drained pasta directly to the pan and toss vigorously, adding more pasta water a little at a time, until every strand is coated and the sauce looks creamy and emulsified.
- Finish off the heat. Squeeze in the lemon juice, then dot the remaining sea urchin pulp over the top so you get little bursts of pure uni in every bite. Shower with the fresh herbs, chili flakes if using, and plenty of cracked pepper. For an extra layer of umami, grate a whisper of bottarga over each plate.
- Serve immediately. Uni pasta waits for no one — plate it the moment it's ready, while the sauce is warm and glossy.
Tips for the best uni pasta
Keep the heat low. Sea urchin is delicate. Its magic is in that raw-to-just-warm sweetness, so treat it like you would a good egg yolk — coax it, don't cook it. Adding it off the heat keeps the flavor fresh and the texture creamy instead of grainy.
Go easy on the salt. The roe is naturally saline, so taste before adding any extra salt. You'll likely find the pasta water and the uni have it covered.
Don't skip the pasta water. Those cloudy starches are what turn butter and roe into a restaurant-style sauce that hugs the noodles. Add it gradually until the texture is just right.
Use it fresh. Once the jar is open, keep it refrigerated and use it within two to three days for the cleanest flavor — one more reason this recipe is a perfect excuse to open a jar.
Make it your own
Once you have restaurant-grade uni on hand, the spaghetti is just the beginning. Spread the pulp on warm toast or blinis for an instant appetizer, fold a spoonful into a finished risotto, or spoon it over seared scallops. Love a briny, savory finish? A jar of Bottarga Gold Grated Bottarga is the natural partner — a light dusting over the plate adds an aged, Parmesan-like depth that plays beautifully against the sweetness of the sea urchin.
Where to find restaurant-grade sea urchin
Great uni pasta starts with great roe, and that's exactly what we obsess over at Duke's Gourmet. Our Sardinian sea urchin pulp is the same quality professional kitchens reach for, ready to bring that special-occasion flavor to your own table any night of the week. Explore the rest of our roe and pearls in the Caviars & Pearls collection, or discover the Mediterranean's other great umami treasure in our Bottarga collection. One jar, twenty minutes, and dinner suddenly tastes like the coast of Italy.