Actually tonight I made two pasta dishes. Same ingredients in the main, but for Amy and I we had sliced smoked turkey and Ollie and Mary had sardines. It is theirs that I shall be giving the recipe for below, but hey change sardines to turkey, ham, sausages even – pretty certain it will work together, it did for our two dishes.
So the meal.
Yes it was indeed a sardine and spaghetti dish. According to the consumers that tried it tonight, it was very delicious.
Give it a go and see what you think.
Enough for 4 here, but don’t forget the sardines were enough for 2.
Phase I – get the pasta going:
- Spaghetti pasta – about a handful
- Good pinch of salt
Easy peasy.
Pot full to 3/4 with water. Bring to boil. Throw in the salt. Lay in the spaghetti. Reduce to strong summer and leave that for 10 minutes or so. You want to check this every now and then, grabbing a strand of spaghetti and having a bite. You still want it to be a little firm (al dente) but not crunchy.
Phase II – the pasta sauce, whilst your spaghetti is boiling away:
- 3 finely sliced cloves of garlic
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- 1 inch of ginger (young if possible) finely chopped
- half a cup of frozen peas
- 8 stalks of asparagus – remove the woody end and cut in to 2 inch pieces
- 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce – how salty do you like it
Get you work out as usual folks. Drizzle in some oil and get that heated.
First in goes the garlic, onion, ginger – which you want to sweat down a little until soft.
In with peas and the asparagus. Stir around a little and then add in the soy. Now this you want to cook through until the peas are defrosted and the asparagus is cooked but with a little crunch still – off the gas.
Phase IV – finishing off:
- 2 tins of sardines in olive oil
Drain the spaghetti through a colander, allowing a little of the starchy water to remain the in the pot.
Get the wok back on the heat with the sauce within it. Add in the spaghetti, a little of the starchy water and the two tins of sardines in olive oil. Carefully stir this together so that the pasta gets coated with the sauce. The starchy water will help this process and also add a nice glisten. Best tool for the job is tongs. But careful with the sardine fillets, you still want them to be chunks not mush.
Take a nice white plate and, again with the tongs, serve out the pasta equally and then spoon over the remaining sauce from the wok atop the spaghetti.
Ta Da – you are done. Easy huh?
Tasty – you tell me…
It is delicious I have been told. Looks pretty good too.
Enjoy!!!
