Pasta con le Sarde

[Adam Balic]

Pasta con le Sarde

This recipe is from Pasta Around the Mediterranean in the eCGI

• 2 fennel bulbs, including their feathery tops.
  
• 1 finely diced onion
  
• 1 kg of mussels in the shell (Cover them with fresh water, to which you have added the juice of half a lemon, leave for 4 hours then rinse, clean and de-beard.)
  
• 100 g pinenuts
  
• 3 garlic cloves
  
• 20 strands of saffron (a small pinch)
  
• 1/2 c of fruity good quality olive oil
  
• 1 c dry white wine
  
• salt and pepper
  
• Zest of one lemon (or half a citron if available), cut into fine slivers, like
  

One recipe of Basic Pasta Dough

1. Roll out pasta sheets until 2 mm thick. Cut pasta into 4 mm ribbons using either a pasta machine or a knife. Alternatively, buy a good quality dried linguine.

2. Remove feathery tops from fennel bulbs, chop finely and set aside. Remove any discoloured outer leaves from the fennel bulbs and put them into a saucepan, cover with water, bring to boil and cook until the bulbs are easily pierced with a fork, about ten minutes. Remove from water, allow to cool and dice fennel bulbs finely. Put aside. Gently brown pinenuts in a saucepan Do not allow to burn! Put aside.

3. Place mussels into a large pot and add the white wine. Bring to boil, cover with lid and steam mussels until they open, about 4-5 minutes. Remove mussels from liquid and put the liquid aside. Discard any un-opened mussels. Strain the liquid through cheese cloth or a fine strainer to remove any debris. Remove flesh from half of the mussels and set aside.

4. Sauté onion in olive oil and when translucent, add crushed saffron and garlic. Stir for one minute, then add the strained mussel liquid. Reduce heat and simmer.

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add pasta. Cook pasta until tender to the tooth (al dente), around five minutes for fresh pasta; 10 minutes for dried.

6. Add the diced fennel. lemon zest and toasted pine nuts to the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. When the pasta is cooked, add it and the shucked mussels to the sauce and combine. Place in a serving dish, top with the rest of the mussels in their shells and garnish with the finely chopped fennel fronds. Serve.

Keywords: Pasta, eGCI

( RG906 )