Okay: right this moment I can’t get the oh-so-appealing photo of this oh-so-delicious dish up on this blog, but I want you to have the recipe before I wait for it to work out. It could be awhile, right? And really: when you have such a luscious dish of pasta–linguine or spaghetti–with a lusty sauce of fish, tomatoes, peppers and capers, really: you don’t want to wait. And I don’t want you to wait.
So here is the recipe: And, I hasten to add, its my own reflection on sauces of fish and flashy aromatics I’ve eaten in Napoli and its surrounding areas as well as Sicilyq1.
Linguine con il gusto della mare (okay: linguine with the taste of the sea, really: i’m reaching for a name here). (but it is so very Neapolitan, Italian, Mediterranean…..) (giving it an Italian name seems very important at the moment). To be honest: I am sure I used far more garlic than any Italian ever would!
Serves 4 (halve it for two)
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if and as needed
1 medium sized red onion, cut into thin strips/slices/or diced
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped or thinly sliced
About 12 ounces fish, in chunks: I used a mixture of cod, haddock, and a little bit of cold smoked haddock; any sort of sturdy but mildish white fish should be great; if you feel like a hit of smokey flavour and don’t have the smoked fish, add a pinch of smoked salt or diced bacon/sausage
1 small-medium sized jar of roasted/lightly pickled red and yellow peppers, drained and rinsed, cut into strips
2 small (350g/13 ish oz) tins/cans tomatoes, or one large one, including its juices
1 tablepsoon capers, including a little bit of the juice
3-4 whole (6-8 halves) sun-dried tomatoes, thinly slices/chopped
1-2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
Pinch sugar to taste
Pinch black pepper to taste
Large pinch or two dried oregano leaves, crushed in your hand as you add it to the pot
Optional: a pinch of dried chile flakes or Chinese chile oil (not too desperately hot; i use homemade)
12 ounces linguine or spaghetti
Salt for cooking water, or as needed
Put up a large pot of water to the boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan lightly heat the olive oil and gently saute the onion until its softened; add the garlic and fish, stir-fry together a few minutes until the fish is growing opaque, then with a slotted spoon remove the fish to a plate, keeping as many onions in the pan as you can.
Into the pan add the peppers and tomatoes. Raise the heat and cook together, stirring, a few minutes, then add the capers, sun-dried tomatoes,T parsley, sugar, black pepper and oregano. Cook until it condenses a bit and grows thicker, less saucey, then return the fish and its juices to the pan and heat together. Set aside while you cook the pasta.
Add a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water then add the linguine; if it bubbles over lower the heat slightly but keep it basically rolling, the pasta cooking in the boiling water. When it is just barely al dente, drain, reserving about a coffee mug full of the cooking water.
Place the fish pan on the heat, add the drained pasta to it, and a quarter or so of the liquid from the mug. Toss together on the heat, and when the liquid has evaporated add a little bit more. The linguine you added to the pan was ALMOST al dente; you want to cook it with the sauce until it is JUST al dente.
Continue cooking, tossing, and adding a little of the liquid as you do; this whole thing will only take a few minutes.
Taste for seasoning, add a pinch of dried chile flakes if desired, then serve, with an extra drizzle of olive oil over it, or a small amount of chile oil to taste. Eat right away!
With over 70 cookbook titles (including contributions) to her credit, Marlena conjures up flavours and dishes from the Mediterranean to Mexico, California to France to the Italian islands and single subjects such as chili peppers, olive oil, mushrooms, to a book on classic Jewish food from all over the world.
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