We were in a culinary rut tonight. We didn't feel like cooking -- actually, truth is we simply didn't feel like running out to the store to buy ingredients. We didn't care to eat out either, mainly because none of the nearby restaurants seemed appealing tonight and also because we vowed we were going to cook more and eat out less.
"I guess I'll just have sardines and bread tonight," my husband sighed, "Except that we don't have any bread." He decided to heat up a box of frozen garlic flatbread instead. With sardines?
I happened to be on Facebook chatting with my friend Ana, a gourmet and connoisseur of all things culinary-related, and shared with her my dinner woes. "I guess it's a bunch of random leftovers for me tonight," I said resignedly.
"What about pasta and sardines?" she suggested. Genius! I found this recipe online and adapted it to our pantry and palate. Here's our version (we followed the cooking directions of the original recipe).
9 oz. Linguine (the kind you find at the refrigerated section. Note: Fettuccine would have been better but we didn't have any.)
4 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium Hawaiian sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped finely
1 Pomona lemon, juiced (freshly plucked from our tree!)
1 4 oz. can sardines in tomato sauce
1 pinch red pepper flakes
Grated parmesan cheese
*We also added a dollop of green olive tapenade (from Trader Joe's), just to add a bit more zing to the recipe. Again, this bit of inspiration was courtesy of Ana -- she had suggested tossing in a few capers or olives to spice things up
Delicious! Everything was ready in about 20 minutes and we didn't have to pay a cent. Thanks Ana!
Good for you, Gigi! This sounds yummy! I also have a similar recipe from Giada de Laurentiis that I use with tuna. You only need tuna in olive oil, marinara sauce, lemon, capers and parsley. So easy! The lemon and capers really give the dish a fresh taste! Try it sometime!
Posted by: Julianne | April 16, 2009 at 07:18 AM
sounds really yummy but hubby does not want this combination. he thinks sardines is just not right to be with pasta. how primitive, no ha ha
Posted by: bing | April 17, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Awww... Shucks! Kilig naman ako. I was just happy to do my bit to spice up your dinner menu. Glad it turned out so well!
Posted by: ana5678 | April 18, 2009 at 05:50 PM
J - I want to try this with canned salmon (the one in the sardine-looking pink can from TJ's)!
Bing - I probably would have felt the same way before the Food Channel changed my ideas about food. :)
Ana - You've given me so many ideas -- I need to be able to pay back the favor!
Posted by: Gigi | April 23, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Hmmm..seems really delicious, sometimes I used corned beef It is also good. Now I want to try that paste sardines.
-krisha-
Posted by: philippine grocery | May 17, 2009 at 07:03 PM
Pasta and sardines seem like quite an unusual combination. Yet I shall surely try this out as I am a complete foodie. I hope it tastes really good. :)
Posted by: Natural Cosmetics | May 22, 2009 at 12:12 PM