Pasta cu Anciova

 

Pasta cu Anciova

Pasta cu Anciova

Here’s another tinned fish recipe. I think this one might be a family recipe since I’ve never seen anything like it except when my friend Vinnie’s Sicilian grandmother made it. The first time I had it I was in my teens and eating dinner at Vinnie’s . It seemed strange to me then compared to my mother’s tomato sauce.  But as I grew older, I often asked Vinnie’s grandmother to make it. There are some intense flavors here and even if you aren’t crazy about anchovies (anciova in Siciliànu), you should give this a try.
Pasta cu Anciova
Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 cans of anchovies packed in olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
  • Red pepper to taste
  • 1 can of tomato paste
  • 1 ½ cups of water
  • ½ cup chopped parsley divided
  • 1 cup unseasoned toasted breadcrumbs
  • 1 lb. pasta – perciatelli, bucatini,  or spaghetti

Start a pot of water for the pasta.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat. Empty the cans of anchovies with the oil they’re packed in, into the pan. Add the sliced garlic, stir, and simmer on low for 8 minutes. The anchovies will eventually dissolve so don’t worry about breaking them up.
Pasta cu Anciova

Add the tomato paste, raise the heat, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups of water and half of the parsley, blend, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
Pasta cu Anciova

While the sauce is simmering cook the pasta until almost done. Using tongs put the pasta in the sauce to finish cooking. Stir in the rest of the parsley and serve. Pass the toasted breadcrumbs to be sprinkled on the pasta.Pasta cu Anciova

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Tinned Fish

Tinned Fish

It’s been around for a long time but suddenly it’s become a thing – tinned fish. When I was growing up if I wanted a snack, I could always open a can of sardines, squid, or tuna. It’s a very old way of preserving food. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and isn’t perishable until it’s opened.

Here’s an informative post from Epicurious

The Can of Food That Makes Dinner Parties Delicious, Easy, and Insanely Fast

The easiest dinner party you’ll ever throw is the one where all you do is make a few salads, open a few tins of fish and put out a few baguettes. The reason you aren’t throwing this party already is because you think that tinned fish is cheap, acrid, odorous stuff that you’d never serve to company, much less yourself. But that line of thinking stops now. 

Click logo for full article – 

 


Tinned Fish Pasta

Here’s a recipe that works with almost any type of tinned fish. I used sardines. 

Tinned Fish PastaAdapted from Bon Appétit

Tinned Fish PastaIngredients:
  • 1 cup unseasoned toasted breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup. olive oil
  • 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • 2 cans sardines packed in olive oil
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. chopped capers
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 lb. spaghetti or linguini
  • Chopped parsley for serving

Tinned Fish Pasta


Lightly sauté the garlic in olive oil in a small pan until it’s fragrant. Don’t let it brown.Tinned Fish Pasta

Put the garlic and oil it cooked in, sardines, lemon zest and juice, capers, salt, and pepper in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water to gently heat the ingredients. Remove the bowl and cook the pasta in the same boiling water.Tinned Fish Pasta

When the pasta is done add it to the bowl with 1 cup of the pasta water and the parsley. Mix and serve with a sprinkling of the toasted breadcrumbs.Tinned Fish Pasta

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Braised Chicken with Olives

Braised Chicken with Olives

 

Braised Chicken with Olives

Ingredients:
  • 3 lbs. of chicken pieces (I used legs & thighs)
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves
  • 5 anchovies packed in oil
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 cup green olives roughly chopped and rinsed
  • 2 tbsp. rinsed capers
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 strips of lemon zest
  • Red pepper flakes to taste
  • 1 cup white wine and 1 cup water
Pre-heat oven to 350o.
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove the chicken and all but 4 tablespoons of the fat and oil.Braised Chicken with Olives
Braised Chicken with OlivesThere’s nothing like the bottom of a Coca Cola bottle for smashing olives to remove the pit.

Add the garlic and anchovies to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the tomato paste, olives, capers, bay leaves, lemon zest and red pepper. Blend and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and water, mix well.Braised Chicken with Olives
Return the chicken to the pan. Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken and place the pan the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.Braised Chicken with Olives

Remove the chicken to a serving dish. Check the sauce for seasoning and remove the lemon zest and bay leaves. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.Braised Chicken with Olives

 

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Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and SausagePasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Simple ingredients and an easy preparation – this one is a classic. Whoever first put this combination together deserves a medal. You can get this in almost any Italian restaurant, hero shop and even in some pizzerias.
Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage
Ingredients:
  • 2 bunches broccoli rabe
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, black and red pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 4 Italian sausages (sweet or hot) cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 lb. short pasta
Start a pot of boiling salted water for pasta. Remove stems, cut into 2 inch pieces and wash the broccoli rabe.
Boil it in the pasta water for 8 – 10 minutes until tender. Remove and drain. Add 2 tablespoons more salt to the water and cook the pasta in the same pot until almost done.Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Fry the sausage in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until browned. Add garlic, salt, red, and black pepper and lower the heat so the garlic doesn’t burn. Cook for 5 minutes and add a half cup of pasta water and deglaze the pan. Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Add the prepared broccoli rabe and another half cup of pasta water. Blend and cook for 8 minutes. Add the drained pasta to the sausage and broccoli to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana cheese.Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

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Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp

Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp

Thai Sweet and Salty ShrimpWhen I was a little kid shrimp was the only seafood that I would eat. As I got older my tastes broadened but shrimp remained one of my favorites. Here’s a simple and quick recipe that tastes a lot more complicated than it is. I adapted this in the New York Times where they give credit to Kris Yenbamroong and Ali Slagle.

 

Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. medium to large cleaned, shelled shrimp
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp. Asian fish sauce or coloratura di alici
  • 1 tbsp. white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp. brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp. finely chopped roasted salted peanuts
  • 1 tbsp. lime juice
  • 3 scallions, thinly sliced  green and white
  • Red pepper flakes
Dry the shrimp and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Mix the fish sauce, vinegar, oil, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Heat a frying pan to medium high and add the mix. When it begins to simmer, add the shrimp, and cook until it begins to color on both sides.Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp
Add the peanuts, lime juice,  scallions, and red pepper. Stir to combine and serve.
Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp

Thai Sweet and Salty Shrimp

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