Pasta: Linguine ai Fichi

Pasta: Linguine ai Fichi
© Betina Hastoft

Pasta: Linguine al Fichi

Salty and sweet: this pasta dish has a variety of flavour components thanks to figs, mackerel and olives.

The mixture of salty and sweet, of fish and fruit, is popular in southern Italy and probably a legacy of the time when the Moors ruled Sicily. This beautiful pasta dish is a variation of Pasta con le Sarde, the Sicilian national dish.

Ingredients (2 servings)
2 handful garlic
4 figs
4 piece(s) dried tomatoes
10 g bread crumbs
125 g tin of mackerel fillets in oil
250 g pasta
some olive oil
2 anchovy fillets
8 black olives, stoned
1 splash(es) dry white wine
salt
pepper
  • Finely chop the garlic, quarter the figs, cut the dried tomatoes into small pieces. Toast the breadcrumbs briefly in a dry pan until they have taken on a little colour.
  • Take the mackerel out of the tin and reserve the oil.
  • Bring enough water to the boil in a saucepan to just cover the pasta. Cook the pasta in it according to the packet instructions until al dente.
  • Heat the oil from the mackerel plus a little olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Briefly sauté the figs until they have taken on some colour. Lift them out of the pan.
  • Add the anchovy fillets and the chopped garlic and sauté until the fillets have dissolved. Add the chopped dried tomatoes and olives and sauté briefly. Finally, carefully fold in the mackerel pieces and the fried figs. Deglaze with a dash of white wine, reduce and remove from the heat.
  • When the pasta is cooked, strain and save a cup of pasta cooking water.
  • Return the sauce to the heat. Add the pasta to the sauce and add half of the reserved cooking water. Stir and simmer until a creamy sauce forms. Add more pasta cooking water if necessary.
  • Divide among warmed plates, season and sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

Tip:

Fresh or from the can!

Of course you can use fresh mackerel. But a good canned product will do as well.

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