Oil sardine spaghetti

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g spaghetti or other pasta
• 15 black olives with stones
• 1 can sardines, pickled in oil
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch(s) of pepper
• ½ tube(s) tomato paste
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• n. B. water

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Spaghetti with sardines in oil and black olives

Boil salted water for the pasta. Drain the sardines in the oil. Skin the garlic clove. Pit the olives according to taste (I don’t). Heat olive oil in a separate pot. Let the garlic clove brown, then remove. Add the pasta to the cooking water. Toast the tomato paste in the fragrant oil, stirring constantly. Deglaze any burnt-on bits with a few tablespoons of the pasta water, scraping them up with a wooden spoon. Repeat this process a few times, then add the sardines and continue toasting, stirring/deglazing constantly. Just before the pasta is finished cooking, add the olives to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. Drain the cooked, al dente pasta and add it to the sauce—there’s plenty of cooking water, if you like. Stir everything thoroughly, cover, and let it sit for five minutes. Stir again. Arrange on pasta plates and drizzle with a few drops of olive oil just before serving. This dish is very easy to prepare, the ingredients are readily available, and it has a very Mediterranean and fishy flavor (tastes like the sea)—no one would guess it’s sardines in oil.