Olive Caper Sardine Pasta is a quick, delicious pasta that you can make from things you very likely have sitting in the cupboard.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. spaghetti or similar pasta
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 small red or green fresh hot chile or 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 12 green and/or black pitted olives
- 1 Tbsp. capers
- 1/2 tsp. pickled green peppercorns (optional)
- 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 can (5 oz.) sardines
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups arugula leaves (optional)
Preparation:
- Put on a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the spaghetti until tender to the bite. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, drain pasta, and set aside.
- While the water comes to a boil, mince the garlic, chile if using, olives, capers, and pickled peppercorns if using.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add garlic, chile, olives, capers, and peppercorns. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute. Add white wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
- While wine reduces, chop parsley.
- Add sardines to the sauce and cook, stirring, until sardines are broken up and well combined with the rest of the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta-cooking liquid and reserved pasta. Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Taste. Add remaining liquid if the pasta seems dry.
- Stir in parsley. Serve topped with freshly ground black pepper to taste and a handful of fresh arugula leaves, if you like.
