nemo and pasta con le sarde

Recently, my family gathered all together at a big house with a pond.  While we were there, I also made this incredible (both in its deliciousness and its easiness) sicilian pasta recipe that I found over here and slightly (very slightly) adapted - and due to popular demand, have re-posted below!

As soon as we arrived, we jumped in the pond. 

I think Nemo is trying to save me.

I need to come up with a caption for this one :)

and without further ado, 

Pasta Con Le Sarde

Ingredients:

1 bulb fennel,

EVOO

2 tins 3.75oz each, of sardines in olive oil (wild is best according to Seafood Watch)

1 small can tomato paste

handful of pine nuts 

handful of raisins

4 cloves of garlic

box of spaghetti

salt and freshly ground pepper

olives, breadcrumbs (for garnish)

one large pasta pot, 1 frying pan or wok

Instructions:

1. put water in a pot big enough for your pasta on stove, bring to boil

2. cut off green top part of fennel bulb and put the whole bulb (the white part) in the boiling water for 10 minutes or until soft enough that you can stick a knife into it

3. while that boils: chop up garlic and fry in EVOO, using frying pan or wok 

4. add sardines to pan with garlic

5. crush them with the back of a wooden spoon so that they no longer look like sardines

6. add tomato paste, stir in

7. thin sauce to preference, using water from boiling fennel bulb (I used at least 4 cups)

8. take out fennel bulb, put pasta in boiling water

9. cook sardine/garlic/tomato paste/water on med-low for 15 min while pasta boils

10. chop up fennel bulb into 1/2 inch pieces (whole thing)

11. add fennel, raisins, pine nuts, and some of the whispy greens from the top of the fennel to the sardine mixture about 2-5 minutes before the pasta's done

12. drain the pasta, serve with heaping spoonful of sauce.

Buon Appetito!

And two italian phrases that will be sure to get you thinking:

"This is a sweet expression.  Il bel far niente.  [It] means 'the beauty of doing nothing'... 

There's another wonderful Italian expression: l'arte d'arrangiarsi - the art of making something out of nothing."

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love