Smoked mackerel, capers & tomato spaghetti with pesto

I'm really quite proud of this little recipe, as it came about during one of our "staff meetings" when we were having a brainstorm about what we would actually like to eat as opposed to what we thought we should have to eat.  I can remember thinking, as we were contemplating complimentary flavours for it, that less is more and this was definitely one of those pasta dishes.

Now I know that smoked mackerel isn't to everyone's liking, but for this recipe I've used some honey smoked mackerel which is a lot milder in flavour than the peppered or just straight smoked versions.  I heartily recommend that you go for a sweeter type of smoked mackerel, as not doing so will affect the sweet/savoury balance.  If you just can't find any, don't despair, just add a half a teaspoonful of honey along with the tomatoes and you'll be fine.

Speaking of tomatoes, I recommend raspberry tomatoes if you can get them. They are really big, quite fleshy tomatoes with a gorgeously rich tomato flavour - and perfect for something like this.  I get mine from my local Polish delicatessen, so if all else fails, try your closest Polish shop or even an Ethnic shop if you have one.

The recipe doesn't have a sauce as such, as quite simply the extra virgin olive oil and tomatoes (devoid of seeds, but still full of juice) combine with the shallots, pepper and capers to make this dish anything but dry.  The oiliness of the smoked mackerel is tempered by the tomatoes but the secret weapon of the dish are the capers.  Every now and then your tongue trips over one and the intense flavour just wakes up your palate, all ready to again be soothed and comforted by the spaghetti and green pesto.

I hesitate to draw your attention to the fact, but this dish is also extraordinarily good for you. Nutritionally, I reckon it's probably one of the best I've come up with in some time.  But let's skip lightly over that and concentrate on how good it tastes, eh?  After all, I don't want to put anyone off it by shouting too loudly about how good it is for you.

As for the Cook's Tips, the recipe is so simple I don't have many.  Just to say to make sure that you have the spaghetti water boiling before you put the shallots on to cook, or you'll be waiting for the pasta while your tomatoes are cooking instead of heating up, which will spoil the texture if not the flavour.

Oh - and don't forget to rinse the capers.

So, onwards to the recipe!

SMOKED MACKEREL, CAPERS & TOMATO SPAGHETTI WITH PESTO   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
250g dried spaghetti
2 large full flavoured tomatoes, pips removed, diced
6 cherry tomatoes, pips removed, quartered
2 tbsp capers, rinsed of salt or brine
half a tsp ground black pepper
a good pinch of sea salt
4 honey smoked mackerel fillets, skinned, boned and flaked into small chunks
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves
3 heaped tsp green pesto, to serve
1 tbsp chopped parsley, to serve.

Method :

Begin by putting a large pan of water on to boil.

Next, heat the extra virgin olive oil over a low heat in a frying pan.  Add the chopped shallot and fry very gently until softened.

When the water comes to a boil, add the dried spaghetti and cook to manufacturer's instructions (usually around 10-12 minutes).

In the meantime, add all the tomatoes, capers, black pepper and sea salt to the shallots and just warm them through, without really cooking them.  They should be distinctly warm to the touch before the next stage.

Once the spaghetti is cooked to your preference, drain and return to the hot pan.

Add the tomato mixture, the flaked mackerel and tear the basil leaves into the pan.  Stir through gently and serve immediately with an extra splash of extra virgin olive oil.

Garnish with a good heaped teaspoonful of green pesto and a light sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Printable version

Drunken Spaghetti - deceptive and delicious!

You'll have read the previous blog post about the Barefoot Wine cocktail, Moscato Love, and so won't be surprised to hear that this blog post is all about what we did with the bottle of Merlot that arrived at the same time.

This Valentine's Day has been a bit of a higgledy-piggledy mess of successes and failures.  Success in that we both (hubby and I) managed to find gifts for one another (see "Cherry Shortbread Hearts" post, up next) and thus clawed a tiny bit of romance out of a remarkably unsuccessful day.  The problems with the day all began when I hurt my back and couldn't cook and couldn't sit at the computer for very long.  This meant a bit of a re-hash of the menu listing for the week and hubby had to stand in for me in the kitchen (along with everything else he does) - and all my planned blog postings for Valentines Day have wound up appearing after the event.

Add to that the fact that it is son & heir's half term holiday, so we had one friend of his staying for a sleepover that took us through to Valentines Day morning.  We took that friend home, and had to go shopping - not terribly romantic.  The lovely Asda then let me down severely with their selection (which was, in fact, a non-selection of white fish) so instead of a lovely Valentines' Dinner, we wound up eating pizza.  Not just pizza, but disgusting pizza too.  To add insult to injury, son & heir went swimming and then unexpectedly stayed at his friend's house for tea.  I doubt we'd have gone out if we'd have known, but it would have given us the chance at least!


*sigh*  Oh well, I suppose there's always next year.

To get back to the recipe, the lovely folks at Barefoot Wine had sent us some menu suggestions to play with - and I particularly liked the look of their Drunken Spaghetti.


Hubby sprang into the breach and got busy in the kitchen making the spaghetti, which turned out to be quite deceptively scrumptious!


From looking at the recipe, it appeared to be a standard Bolognese except with the addition of carrot, celery and of course, the Merlot.

Now the "drunken" bit refers to the fact that you cook the spaghetti in a combination of wine and water (you can imagine the tears involved in losing a percentage of the lovely wine to this cause - so perhaps I might advocate the use of a rather lesser denomination of red, if you're going to have a go at this) which brings it up an interesting shade of pink.  I was pleasantly surprised to note that you can actually taste the wine in the spaghetti (so don't use a particularly sour vintage!), as I was anticipating that the flavour would be washed out by the water.  Not so.


The ragu mixture that topped the spaghetti was deliciously flavoursome.  No doubt the quality of the Merlot helped a lot here, as once you'd given the whole ensemble a liberal dusting with Parmesan, the flavours were complete.


In fact, just writing about it is making my tummy rumble - or is that just because it's lunchtime?


Outside of the recipe, the Merlot is an intensely flavoured wine - in fact, I'd go so far as to say it almost explodes on your tongue.  The bouquet is one of freshly cut pine wood, but the flavours are raisins, cherries and a deeper note that sparks the tastebuds into almost frenzied activity.  A really very surprising red wine!


Cheers!  (Again!).


DRUNKEN SPAGHETTI    (serves 3)


Ingredients :


400g dried spaghetti

2½ cups of red wine (Barefoot Merlot)

500g lean minced beef

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

500g Passata

a good pinch of dried oregano (or to taste)

2 tbsp olive oil

grated Parmesan to serve.

Method :

1.  In a deep frying pan or a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion until tender.  Remove and reserve to keep warm.

2.  Add the beef and brown over a high heat until it has rendered its fat.  Drain the beef by moving it to one side of the pan and spooning away the fat.

3.  Re-introduce the onions to the pan, and include the garlic, carrot, celery and tomatoes.  Stir over a medium heat until softened.

4.  Add the passata and a half a cup of the wine.  Stir well to combine and add the oregano and seasoning to taste.

5.  Cook over a medium heat so that the sauce boils gently, so reducing the liquid, for some 15 minutes or so - or until a thick consistency has been reached and the vegetables are all tender.

6.  In the meantime, bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the rest of the Merlot (try not to cry - it's worth it, honest!) and the spaghetti.

7.  Cook to the packet instructions (usually around 8-10 minutes) or until al dente.  Drain, then return to the pan and add a drizzle of olive oil and season with freshly ground black pepper.

8.  Serve the meat sauce on top of the spaghetti and garnish with a good covering of finely grated Parmesan cheese.

Lovely!

.