Italian
Lusty Pasta with Sardines
- Prep time 15 minutes
- Cook time 35 minutes
- Serves 2
Author Notes
This is sort of a variation on pasta puttanesca, which has anchovies and is usually cooked very quickly. Here I use sardines and I cook the sauce longer so it is thick and sweet. I also add lemon zest and juice, which brightens up this very lusty sauce. —Emily
What You'll Need
Ingredients
-
1/2
large onion, diced fine
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2
cloves of garlic, coarsely minced
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1 tablespoon
capers in brine
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1
tin sardines, larger bones removed
-
1
28 oz can of tomatoes, pureed or whole (not diced)
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zest of 1 lemon + juice of half a lemon
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2/3 cup
flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
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10
oil-cured olives, pitted and quartered (you can use other kids, but oil cured olives are especially magical here).
-
1/2 teaspoon
oregano
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red pepper flakes, to taste
-
salt and pepper, to taste
-
2/3 pound
spaghetti or linguini
Directions
- Sauté the diced onion in a tablespoon or so of oil over medium low heat; cover for a few minutes so that the onions stays moist and become translucent. Avoid browning the onion. While the onion is softening, get a pot of well-salted water going on the stove to cook the pasta.
- After the onion is soft, add the garlic and a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes. (I like to make this a little on the spicy side, so I use a couple healthy pinches of red pepper flakes.) Let cook for a couple minutes, avoiding overly browning the garlic.
- Add the sardines and capers and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sardines start to dissolve.
- If you are working with whole canned tomatoes, pour the tomatoes into a bowl and either break them up with your hands or lightly pulse them with a soup stick. Add the tomatoes; then add a 1/3 – ½ cup of water to the can, swirl it around to get the remains bits of tomato out, and add it to the sauce.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sauce thickens. Taste for salt and pepper.
- When the sauce starts to thicken, cook the pasta. 5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the chopped parsley and the olives to the sauce. Don’t add the olives earlier: they will overpower the sauce if they cook in it too long.
- Drain the pasta, add to the sauce and toss to combine. You can add some extra fresh parsley at this point, if you’d like.
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