Category Archives: Fish

Road Trip to Athens, Georgia: Part 6: Rachel’s Crabcakes

We were fed some amazing food this trip. Thanks to JB for a wonderful four course dinner, and to Joe and Rachel for the night of endless appetizers. I wanted to feature it all, but since these were the photos that came out best, we’re going with the crabcakes. Thanks, Rachel for sharing your secret recipe!

Rachel’s Crab Cakes

2 cups Crab
¼ cp. and 1 ½ cups Panko Japanese breadcrumbs
Handful of small diced red peppers (optional—sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I’ve also used celery, carrots, or green peppers.)
Chopped chives
1 egg beaten
2 TBSP. mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Canola oil

Flake crab in large bowl. Add peppers, 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs, some chives, a beaten egg, the mayo and salt and pepper. Mix.

Make palm sized patties (squeezing tight). Adjust binding ingredients (mayo and egg) if the mixture is not staying together.

Put 1½ cups breadcrumbs in a flat bowl. Coat both sides of each patty with crumbs, then re-squeeze the patty and recoat it in breadcrumbs.

Heat ½ inch of oil in pan. When hot enough to sizzle a breadcrumb, put patties in oil until golden brown, then flip. Drain on paper towels.

Serve on mixed greens with lemon wedges and sauce mock roasted red pepper aioli (below).

Red Pepper Aioli

Put a roasted red pepper in the food processor and puree. Add 1 cup mayo, some squeezed lemon, and salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning and consistency. Sprinkle chives on top.

Next Up: The Trip Home (via Asheville, NC)

Joe’s Calamari Marinara

You think I’m a foodie? Nah. I’m chump change compared with my brother Joe, who is the genuine foodie of the family.

Joe has actually worked in real restaurant kitchens, has close friends who own restaurants, and knows wine because he used to sell it in Northern California. And while Joe may love to read cookbooks, he doesn’t need to cook from them like I do. He cooks like the real chefs do, with instinct, flare and a sense of what’s right and what goes with what. His wife Rachel is the same kind of cook, and together, they can make a mean meal. Dinner at their house is an event that goes on for hours, with one course after another woven together with the thread of fine wine…

Joe also loves to wax prolific about food and wine. Get him going, and the phrases”hit it with a little olive oil” and “crank up the heat” and “floral lilt” and begin to creep into his otherwise colloquial speech. By the time he’s done, you’ve either got to start cooking right away or run out to the nearest fine restaurant to satisfy your cravings.

Joe made a delicious Calamari Marinara appetizer on Friday night. I think I’ll let him tell you himself how to make it. He’s our own Jamie Oliver, and we love him. Enjoy!

Calamari Marinara ala’ Joe (Click on the arrow to view video. Requires Flash Player)

Category: Food

A Brazilian Thanksgiving Eve : Moqueca de camarão, Mango & Avocado Salad and Pudim de leite

I know, I know. It’s ridiculous. But every year, on the night before Thanksgiving, we have a dinner party.

You see, my friend Andy and his daughter are clowns in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So their family stays with us the night before in order to be able to get to the parade on time (5:30 am for the clowns), and we all have a nice dinner together. For the past two years, our friends in from Maine have also joined us. It’s a wonderful, low-key evening, and I look forward to it every year. I try (usually unsuccessfully) to keep the fare light, and we all try to end the evening early so the clowns can get to bed.

Of course, part of the reason I can enjoy Thanksgiving Eve is that I do not have to cook dinner the next day. We head to Philly on Thursday morning, and tag team two family back-to-back dinners. (Don’t ask… ) I usually bake a pie and bring some sides, but that’s the limit of my responsibility.

This year’s Thanksgiving Eve dinner was a challenge. Isabelle cannot have anything fermented or with cow’s milk, and one of the kids is now a vegetarian. It took awhile, but I finally hit on the perfect menu – Brazilian fish stew (most of which is made ahead), and mango and avocado salad with a lime vinaigrette. Dessert was flan with fruit. (Oops, Isabelle. I got so caught up with the Brazilian theme I forgot about the milk. Did you even have dessert?) We served a white pinot, but I don’t know if this was the best choice of wine. Suggestions are welcome…

The kids set the table with the fancy dishes, and we put up votive candles all around the apartment. Emily S. Arrived early and helped us set up the appetizers (Thanks, E.S.!), which were crostini topped with chopped liver or white bean and sage puree, olives, baby carrots, apple slices, roasted peppers in oil and a wonderful sheep’s milk cheese from Fairway.

I had a great time. This year, the clowns were in bed by 10:30 – not too bad – and the rest of us hit the sack by 11:30. Thanks, Linda for doing the dishes. We missed you Sam, but hope to see you at Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving!

Moqueca de camarao (Brazilian Fish Stew) (See original recipe at Epicurious.com)

This goes down in culinary history as one of the best dishes I have ever had. It’s a great dish to make to amaze your friends, and so easy.

The original recipe calls for pureeing the diced tomatoes, but I chose to keep them whole. I’ve also re-written the recipe to reflect how I prepared it ahead. If you are making it just for yourself, and not ahead of time, use the Epicurious version. I was not able to find dende oil (red palm oil) at my usual sources (Fairway and Gourmet Garage), but am determined to get it before I make this again. I cannot imagine this stew could taste any better than it already does, but from what I have read, that oil puts the flavors over the top.

Sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 (14- to 15-oz) can diced tomatoes including juice

1 cup well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk (to be added just before adding shrimp)

Shrimp marinade
1 1/4 lb large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per lb), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Last-Minute Additions
1 tablespoon dende (palm) oil
4 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro

Accompaniment
Cooked white rice (I used Basmati)

Cook onion and bell pepper in olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add cayenne, 1 tablespoon cilantro, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes and simmer briskly, stirring, until mixture is very thick, about 15-30 minutes.

Make marinade and keep, covered, in the fridge till you are ready to use it.

About 40 minutes before serving, start your rice cooking. Then toss shrimp with marinade in a large bowl, and let sit in fridge, covered, for about 20 minutes. (Not any longer, or you will have ceviche).

5-10 minutes before serving, stir coconut milk into sauce and bring to a boil. Add shrimp mixture and cook, stirring, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in dende oil and remaining 4 tablespoons cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Plate individually, first putting rice into a small bowl, then inverting it onto the plate. Spoon the stew over the rice. Keep bowls of stew and rice on the table, though – everyone will want seconds!

Mango and avocado Salad with Lime and Honey Vinaigrette

salad greens (We mixed red lettuce with mesclun)
large ripe mango, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced
2 small avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 tbsp honey (Depends on how tart or sweet you like it.)
1 tbsp hot water
½ cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Whisk the honey and lime together with the hot water. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss greens with ¾ of the dressing. Arrange mango and avocado on top of greens and drizzle remaining dressing over them.

Pudim de Leite (Brazilian Flan)

There are many ways to make flan. Some recipes use eggs, others add corn starch or use cream instead of milk. All start with caramelized sugar, which forms the base (and later, the top) of the dish. This is the Brazilian version, from Maria Brazil web site, with a few modifications on my part. You can use a ring mold if you are being traditional. I used a Pyrex glass dish.

1 cup sugar (for the caramel)
1 12-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
Equal volume of regular milk (use the can to measure)
3 eggs
1 quart strawberries, washed and drained
Lovely cookies

Place 1 to 2 inches of water in a large roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and preheat to 325°.

Put the sugar into a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium high heat, stirring almost constantly, until the sugar melts into a golden brown caramel. (Watch carefully, it goes slowly, then turns color quickly.)

Pour carefully into pyrex dish or mold. (Listen for cracking noises as the sugar cools and cracks!) and spoon it a bit up the sides of the dish. Be careful not to burn the sugar and yourself. Let it cool.

Whisk together the condensed milk, regular milk and eggs. Pour this mixture through a fine sieve into your prepared dish. (This gets any little egg lumps out).

Place the dish carefully into the center of the roasting pan with water. Bake for about 1 hour. (You will know it is done when you can insert a knife inserted into the center without the custard pooling into the defect you made.) Carefully remove the dish, Let it cool to room temperature and then place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Just before serving, run the tip of a knife around the inside of the mold. Place a deep platter over the mold and invert: the flan should slide out easily. If not, give the mold a firm but careful shake. Cut into squares. Plate with a spoon of caramel sauce on top, two strawberries and a little cookie.

Serves about 10.

Category: Food

Grilled Fish w/ Mango Citrus Sauce

I know, I know. It’s been ages since I posted anything about food.

Finally, here’s a recipe for a delicious dish Mr TBTAM and I made together last night. It was nice to get some quality cooking time together…

Grilled Fish with Mango Citrus Salsa

We got the recipe from a great little site called Mango Recipe Guide. We used Mako Steaks and served it on a bed of rice with a side of brussel sprouts (blanched, cut and sauteed with a little onion, balsamic vinegar and mustard) and a nice Pinot. I don’t know if you can see the fish up there under all that salsa, but trust me it is there. You can use any fish, really. I think it would have been even better with Telapia, my latest favorite fish.

GRILLED FISH & MANGO CITRUS SALSA

For Fish
1 1/2 lbs. fresh fish (tuna, swordfish, mahi mahi)
3 tbsp.fresh squeezed red grapefruit juice
3 tbsp. white wine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried leaf oregano
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
2 red grapefruit, sectioned for garnish
2 large mangos, peeled, pitted and sliced in 2 ” wedges

Mango Citrus Salsa
1 red grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
1 large mango, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 cup diced green, red and yellow pepper
1 large orange, peeled and sectioned
1 medium tomato, diced
3 tbsp. chopped red onion
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Place fish in large, shallow dish. Combine in small bowl, juice, wine, garlic, seasonings and olive oil. Blend well. Reserve 2 – 3 tbsp. for basting and pour remainder of marinade over fish. Chill for several hours, turning occasionally. Prepare salsa by combining all salsa ingredients in medium bowl. Grill fish about 6 inches from heat, basting with reserved marinade. Cook until fish flakes with a fork, allowing 10 minutes per inch of thickness, and turning once. Transfer to serving platter. Drain extra juice from salsa and spoon 1/2 cup salsa over each serving of fish. Garnish with grapefruit and mango slices.

Category: Food

Spaghetti with Asparagus and Lemon Cream

Here’s another very simple recipe from Donna Hay’s book Off the Shelf that we made for dinner last night. This version of the classic recipe takes advantage of the gorgeous asparagus we’ve been seeing in the markets lately. I’d never had lemon cream sauce before, and I really liked it. Made with veggie stock, it makes a great veggie main dish. We served it with a simple salad of greens, balsamic vinegar and oil, with shaved parmesan. The kids had bread, but I did not, I am proud to report. (I am also proud to report that I went to the gyn today, and as I am typing this, my daughter is eating ice cream and I am not. Those of you who know me well know that this is a good thing.)

That’s Donna’s photo of this dish over there on the right. It is of course no suprise that her photo is much prettier than mine. I love how she curls the pasta in that little tower. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen such white spaghetti before, and certainly not when it’s coated with a lemon cream sauce that has this much parmesan in it. Just shows you want the right lighting and food styling (and photo retouching) can do for a dish.

But you know what? I’m not jealous. Because mine tasted just great.

Spagetti with Asparagus and Lemon Cream
1 1/2 cups cream (we used half and half, I bet it would taste just as good with milk)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (You can use veggie stock if you want)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
14 oz spaghetti
500 gm (1 lb) asparagus, trimmed
1/4 cup parsely, chopped
pepper and salt to taste

Plcae the cream, stock and lemon zest in a frying panover medium heat and allo to simmer rapidly. Gradually whisk in the lemon juice, then stir in the parmesan cheese and cook for another 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Place the spaghetti in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water and cook till al dente. Drain.

Cut the asparagus into thirds and steam over boiling water until tender. (We just cooked it in a flat pan with just enough water to cover, like we always do.)

To serve, toss the spagetti with the asparagus, lemon cream, parsley and salt. Serves 4.

Category: Food

Sweet Potato Curry Puffs, Chili Fish with Sweet Lemon Salad

It’s only taken me three years to finally make something from Donna Hay’s beautiful cookbook Off the Shelf, which I received some time ago as a holiday gift from Irene. It’s not that I don’t look at the book – I do. The photos are gorgeous, and the food looks really good. Donna Hay started her career as a food stylist, and it shows. I swear, she could make a dirty pot look appetizing.

But the book is almost too gorgeous to be called a cookbook. It reminds me more of a coffee-table book about cooking. Think of a paper verion of Giada De Laurentiis’ show on the Food Network. I hate that show. It’s over-edited, over-produced, perfect knife sounds overlaid whenever she slices an onion, fancy angle shots on the food, that perfect little smile every time she looks at the camera. Annoyingly perfect. And nothing like a real kitchen.

But I do like Off the Shelf. Why? Because, despite the styling, the recipe ideas in it are wonderful. Really. And they’re different, yet often very simple to make. Recipes like warm potato and tuna salad, spaghetti with asparagus and lemon cream, salmon on fennel salad, crisp rice omelet. There are a lot of light recipes in here, too.

The book is organized atypically, if not exactly intuitively, according to category of staples that you might have on your kitchen shelves. (Some might argue that miso paste is not really a staple for most of us, but we’ll let that go.) Chapter titles are Pasta, Rice, Grains and Lentils, Mediteanean, Asian, Pastes (harissa, miso and curry pastes, mustards), Bake (flour, baking powder, nuts chocolate)and Sweet (sugar, honey and the like). Within each chapter, there is a section called Basics, then Tricks and Tips, then a whole lot of recipes.

Hay’s point in organizing her book this way is to get you thinking about ingredients in your cupboard not just as something on a shopping list for one recipe, but as inspiration for meals. That’s a good idea for cooks who might buy Asian Red curry paste for a single recipe, then stick it in the fridge and forget about it for a year. If you find yourself asking “What else can I use this stuff for?” then Off the Shelf is the book for you.

Every single recipe in this book has an accompanying photo. To make room for the photos, the recipes are written in the briefest of form, anywhere from 4 – 9 on a page. This means that there are few instructions. For example, the recipe I made last night starts out “Cook 1 tablespoon peanut oil, 1 chopped onion and 1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste for 1 minute.” Cook it where? On the stove? In the oven? And in what kind of pan? And what size onion? Now, I knew to saute it, and because I read the recipe, that I’d need a pan big enough to hold the sweet potatoes that were coming up next. And I used a medium onion. So if you know a bit about cooking technique, the recipes have all you need, and you’ll appreciate the opportunity to do your own thing without being spoon fed. But if you’re a fledgling cook, this book may not be for you.

One other thing – Quantities are often weight, not volumes. But I don’t mind that, I have a great little kitchen scale with a bowl attached. And I feel so European cooking by weight…

In addition to her cook books, Donna has a web site and a magazine. Her motto is “Turn simple into special”. Here’s a quote form her bio:”…cooking has allowed her to create a brand that is accessible to anyone who has a kitchen.” When I read that, I realized what exactly it is that annoys me about her book – she is using branding techniques on simple foods, selling us capers and flour and sugar as something more than the plain ingredients they are. She doesn’t need to do that, anymore that Giada needs to overlay sizzling sound clips when she throws a pice of meat into a pan. It’s over-styling. She should have put the energy into writing the recipes, as far as I’m concerned.

…But I’m rambling. The whole point of this post was to tell you that I finally got over myself enough to actually make a few items from the Off the Shelf, specifically from the Pastes chapter. I made Chili Fish with Lemon Salad, and served it with Sweet Potato Puffs. The meal was absolutely delicious, and my family loved it. The three items were a great combo on the plate and on the palate.

So now, depite my complaints about it, I’m totally sold on this cookbook as a great source of ideas, and can’t wait to make something else from it.

Sweet Potato Curry Puffs

These are like samosas. They have a nice bite to them. Since the recipe itself was written as a single paragraph with ingredients in the sentences, and lacked basic intruction or an ingredient list, I’m re-writing it here the way I think Donna should have.

1 tbsp peanut oil
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp Thai green curry paste
600 gm (about 3 cups) peeled and finely diced sweet potatoes (I used yams)
3/4 cup coconut cream (I assumed that meant coconut milk)
1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 beasten egg
5 inch puff pastry rounds (Sorry, that’s all she says. Actually, what she says is “Place [mixture] in the middle of 5 inch puff pastry rounds.” Not how much filling, or how much pastry. I’d say you need pastry enough for about 24 rounds, but have no idea how much pastry I’d need to make to get that. I used store bought pastry, got 16 puffs, and had some filling leftover.)
8 oz Yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (or more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1 tbsp peanut oil till hot, then saute 1 chopped onion and 1 tbsp Thai green curry paste for 1 minute. Add sweet potatoes and coconut cream and cook, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add peas and chopped coriander and allow the mixture to cool. (Actually, I added the coriander with the potatoes.) Meantime, roll out puff pastry and cut into 5 in rounds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place round onto sheet, and place about 2 tbsp filling into it. Fold over pastry and press edges to seal. Brush with egg wash. Bake for about 20 mins till puffed and golden. Serve with plain yogurt blended with some chopped fresh mint.

Chili Fish with Sweet Lemon Salad

The real star of this dish is the lemon salad, so I’m giving it it’s own photo. It is absolutely an amazing little side dish that I know I’ll be making again and again. You can really use any Asian spice rub on the fish. It’s the combo with the cucumber and the lemon salad that makes it special.

Sweet Lemon Salad
4 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1 red chili, seeded and chopped (That may be too hot. We used red chili pepper flakes, about 1/8 tsp)
1/4 cup chopped mint
cracked black pepper and salt to taste

Peel the lemons, removing and discarding the white pith. Chop the flesh into a dice. (Hard to do this without losing all the juice, so we just used a grapefruit knife to get out the sections and served them whole. In Hay’s book, it looks like thye used a tiny melon baller to get the lemon pieces.) Combine with sugar, chili, mint, pepper and salt.

Chili Fish on Cucumber
4 – 7 oz pieces firm white-fleshed fish (We used Telapia)
2 tbsp Asian red chili paste
2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 sweet cucumbers, sliced to serve

Spread the chili paste on the fish and sprinkle with coriander. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. (We used a regular saute pan, and needed a little more oil) Add fish and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until tender.

To serve, place the cucumber slices on plate, top with the fish. Spoon some lemon salad on the side and serve.

Category: Food

Pasta con le Sarde ala Chita Rivera

pasta and chita 2

In a recent post, in which I basically trashed the recent research on Calium supplements, I noted that the current recommendation is for women to get the majority of their calcium intake from food sources. I decided to take my own advice and made Pasta with Sardines, a classic Sicilian dish. Sardines are a great source of calcium – 4 oz has 300 mg of elemental calcium, a full 1/3-1/4 of the daily recommended requirement for most women.

I planned to make this dish on Saturday, hoping for an early dinner and a nice evening at home with my family. Late that afternoon, all plans for a leisurely dinner were quashed. Around 4 pm, we found out that Chita Rivera’s show “The Dancer’s Life” was going to close in 2 days, which made our tickets for Tuesday night obsolete. My husband had rushed to the box office to see if he could get tickets for the closing night show on Sunday. He returned instead at 5:15 with 4 tickets for that very night! Fine, we figured we’d eat a rushed dinner at 6:30 or so, and still have time to get to the theater at 8. We set to work together in the kitchen, my husband cutting up the veggies while I deboned the sardines.

About halfway through our preparations, the phone rang. My younger daughter’s friend was calling to see why my daughter wasn’t at her house for the special sleepover they had planned (and that we had thought was the following weekend). Now we had an extra ticket! Calls were frantically made to find a friend of my older daughter to accompany us to see Chita. My husband took my younger daughter to the sleepover while I finished the sauce and put it in the fridge to hold. By then it was past 7.

My older daughter’s friend’s father graciously drove us all to the theater. In usual New York fashion, we got stuck in traffic at 54th and 6th. So we jumped out of the car and ran through the freezing night the remaining 6 blocks to the theater, cursing ourselves for not taking the subway, stopping only to warm ourselves on a subway grate (now we knew why the homeless slept there.) We just made the curtain.

We returned after the show to cook the pasta and eat our dinner, in relaxed European style, at 10:30 pm. Luckily, the sauce kept beautifully.

Was it worth all the running around? You bet. Chita was amazing! Singing and dancing for 2 hours at the age of 72! And do you know that her left leg was broken in 12 places in an automobile accident in 1986? Now that’s a woman who must get enough calcium!

Pasta con le Sarde

Most recipes for Pasta con Sarde (and there are probably as many recipes as there are cooks in Sicily) call for anywhere from 1 to 3 8-10 oz. cans of sardines in oil. The recipe on which I based this dish comes from Mario Batali, who calls for 3 pounds of whole fresh sardines! I like sardines, but not that much, so I used about 9 ounces. If I make this again, I will also add a can of anchovies in oil.

2 lbs fennel bulbs, greens removed and reserved, bulb cut into sticks.
9 oz whole fresh sardines
flour, for coating
1-1/2cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes with juice, pulsed a few times on the food processor to chop
3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 tbsp raisins, soaked in a little white wine
salt and pepper to taste
7 saffron strands
1 lb dried bucatini (also called perciatelli, basically thick spaghetti with a hollow center)

In a hot skillet, add olive oil and saute fennel until caramelized. (Next time I’ll add the onions at this step and carmelize them too. )

Remove the heads of the sardines and pull out the backbones and entrails. (You don’t need to do this if you decide to use canned sardines instead.) Select a few sardines for garnish. Chop the rest of the sardines for the sauce, set aside.

Season the flour with salt and pepper, and dredge the selected unchopped sardines in it. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a small saucepan until it starts to smoke. Cook the flour-coated sardines in the oil until a light golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sardines from the pan and set them aside to drain on a paper towel.

In the skillet with the caramelized fennel, add the onions and cook about a minute. Add the garlic and cook a bit. Add raisins, tomatoes, pine nuts and saffron. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce briefly to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Add the reserved sardines and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sardines have broken into pieces and are thoroughly mixed into the sauce, about 10 to15 minutes. If the sauce appears too thick at this point, add a little of the pasta cooking water.

Bring 6 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a rolling boil. Add the bucatini and cook until tender but still al dente. Drain the cooked pasta into a large serving bowl, add 3/4 of the sauce and stir to combine. Top with the remaining sauce and the fried sardines.

This pasta tastes best if allowed to sit for several minutes, soaking up the flavors of the sauce, before it is served. Keep the pasta covered during this waiting period, then garnish with reserved fennel fronds.

Category: Food, Second Opinions