I love eating—and cooking—pasta, so I thought, why don’t I start writing down and sharing the recipes of these easy pasta dishes I make at home? More often than not, I would crave for something really comforting and I would find myself thinking about pasta. It doesn’t matter if it has red sauce, white sauce, or is oil-based—I love them all!
I am more inclined to prepare pasta dishes that are simple and quick to make, and by this I mean those that can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes. In addition, I like using what’s available in the fridge and in the pantry, and so my ingredients are really simple—except for an occasional indulgent one (or two, LOL).
In this recipe, I used bottled Montaño Spanish Sardines that friends sent me (thanks, Aleli and Nick!). These delicious products are actually from Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte—may be the best locally-made and sourced Spanish-style sardines! Montaño has a variety of products including Spanish sardines in corn oil, sardines in tomato sauce, and gourmet tuyo (dried fish), but for this recipe, I used the one with olive oil. If you can't find this brand, feel free to use your favorite Spanish-style sardines.
In addition, I used Palermo Sundried Tomatoes that I randomly bought in Landers without knowing where to use them; they are delightfully tangy and sweetish—incredibly yummy! This is completely optional, I just added it because (1) I don't want them to expire; and (2) the tanginess will compliment the salty and oily sardines. Feel free to use regular tomatoes. If you plan to do so, I would personally remove the seeds, cut them into strips, and sauté them first so they dry a little bit. Alternatively, you can simply chop the tomatoes.
Anyway, enough with the intros—I hate super loooooong intros in recipe blogs, don’t you? (Mostly, I only read the notes related to the recipe.) Let’s get cooking!
Spanish Sardines and Sundried Tomato Pasta
serves 4-5
Ingredients:
300g linguini (or spaghetti)
1 bottle Spanish-style sardines in oil (see Note 1)
6-8 pieces (100 grams) whole sundried tomatoes, cut into strips (see Note 2)
1 cup fresh basil leaves
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
red bell pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil
Instructions:
1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente—follow package instructions for the cooking time.
2. Sauté garlic and sardines in olive oil on medium heat. Add sundried tomatoes and sauté for 1 minute.
3. Toss in cooked pasta, basil leaves, and 2 teaspoons of the sardines' oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well until oil is well-incorporated.
4. Sprinkle with red bell pepper flakes and serve.
Notes:
1. I sliced the sardines lengthwise and removed the bones. They are soft enough to eat, but I personally just don’t like them. LOL.
2. Feel free to use more—and to use some of the oil from the bottle! It adds a little more tartness to the dish, I didn't need to squeeze some lemon on it.
Do you love Spanish-style sardines? What do you think of this recipe?
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