Bucatini with Canned Sardines & Capers
I can wax poetic about canned sardines. It all started when I was living on a beginning cook’s wage: a baguette, a big slab of butter, and a couple of sardines straight out of the can functioned as a meal on a regular basis. What started as a tartine of sustenance became an appreciation of the sardine’s cultural significance, its health benefits, and the ease of having them on hand at all times in my pantry. To me, sardines and butter is an eye-roll-to-the-back-of-the-head flavor. I won’t get into the cult of vintage sardines, and the connoisseurs who age certain brands like wine—often for years, to add a complexity of flavor. I’ll just say this: they’re a delicacy in a $2.00 can.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 6 tablespoons salt-packed capers
- 4 tablespoon dried bread crumbs
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 2 3.75-ounce cans sardines packed in olive oil, drained
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Red pepper flakes
- Espelette pepper or hot paprika
- 12 ounces bucatini bigoli, or spaghetti
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish optional
Instructions
- In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse the capers with cold water, then soak them covered with cold water in a small bowl for 10 minutes to remove their salt.
- Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a medium pan on low heat, fry the bread crumbs with ¼ cup of the olive oil, stirring frequently until they turn golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Drain using a fine-mesh strainer and spread onto a paper towel.
- Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on high heat.
- Once boiling, add salt to taste.
- In a large bowl, combine the sardines, capers, garlic, the remaining ¼ cup olive oil, the lemon juice, and a pinch each of red pepper flakes, espelette pepper, and salt.
- Stir using a fork to coarsely break up the sardines.
- Add the bucatini to the salted water and cook to al dente, according to the package instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking, add 3 tablespoons of the pasta water to the sardine mixture and stir to combine.
- Drain the pasta and stir it into the bowl with the sardine mixture.
- Stir aggressively to finish breaking up the sardines and coat the pasta evenly.
- The pasta’s starch will give the sauce a creamy consistency.
- Divide among four bowls.
- Top with the toasted bread crumbs and parsley and serve immediately.