All kinds of fish make fantastic pasta sauces, writes Hugo Arnold
The sun is beating down. Lunch is to be casual but substantial: this is no time for a salad. And the children are hungry, which means pasta is a good idea. Top of the list is vongole, that heady, lip-smacking, shirt-splattering combination of clams and pasta, usually with the addition of parsley, chilli and olive oil.
What makes this classic such a success? It is hard to resist the sweet, saline meatiness of the clams. And what a dream those strands of pasta are when they pick up the clam juices. A real richness. Is this a key to pairing fish and pasta?
Skate may be more unusual when paired with pasta, but this, too, has a richness that makes it ideal (along with capers and perhaps a little anchovy for extra bite). If you can get queen scallops (a smaller variety), they make a fantastic sauce with chilli, garlic and parsley.
Prawns - Dublin Bay for preference, but gambas in their various forms will also suffice - are a delight. Dublin Bay tails are a fraction of the price of the headed variety, making them an economical choice, although a few heads add greatly to the body of the sauce.
A plate of grilled sardines is one of summer's real pleasures, but these gutsy fish also make the most fantastic sauces. They melt into a hot pan of garlic-infused olive oil, tasting much less gutsy than when grilled whole.
The ultimate fish sauce for pasta is one that uses the heads, which are usually discarded and are often to be had for a few cent, if not for free. These are often used for stock, but for the sauce maker they offer the finest meat: rich, unctuous and full of flavour.
RECIPES
All recipes serve four
SPAGHETTI WITH PRAWNS, CAPERS AND CHILLIES
450g large uncooked prawns in their shells
2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
250ml white wine
spaghetti
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp capers, drained and well rinsed
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, or to taste
Remove the heads from the prawns and use scissors to cut down the underside of the tail. Remove the shells and rinse them, with the heads, under cold water. Reserve the prawn flesh.
Saute the shallots in four tablespoons of olive oil for five minutes. Add the prawn heads and tails, along with the garlic, and cook for a further five minutes over a gentle heat.
Add the white wine and an equal quantity of water and simmer over a moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, until reduced by more than half. Mash everything with a wooden spoon, strain and reserve.
Cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water. Roughly chop the prawn flesh and cook in a tablespoon of olive oil over a moderate heat for one minute. Add the parsley, capers and chilli, then season. Pour the stock into the pan, bring to simmering point and serve with the spaghetti.
GRILLED MACKEREL WITH SOBA NOODLES AND PICKLED GINGER
2 small mackerel (or one large one), filleted
6 tbsp soy sauce
6cm piece of ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped and mashed with the flat side of a knife
6 tbsp dry sherry
200g soba nodles
1 heaped tbsp pickled ginger
Cut the mackerel into strips and place in a shallow bowl. Mix the soy, ginger, garlic and sherry together. Pour half over the fish, making sure the ginger is equally divided. Set the dish aside for an hour in the fridge. Keep the rest of the sauce for later.
Cook the soba noodles as you would pasta, then drain and refresh them under cold water. Place a pile of cold noodles on each plate, along with a shallow bowl of the reserved marinade.
Grill the mackerel on both sides for four to five minutes or until cooked. Serve with the noodles, the dipping sauce and a little of the pickled ginger.
SPAGHETTI WITH RICH FISH SAUCE
500g fish heads (sea bass, monkfish, sea bream)
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
half glass white wine
400g tin tomatoes
Wash the fish heads in plenty of cold water. You need to get rid of any blood; otherwise, the sauce will taste bitter.
Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a pan large enough to take the fish heads. Saute the onion over the gentlest heat for 20 minutes, without allowing them to colour.
Add the garlic and parsley and continue cooking for one minute. Add the white wine and boil off the alcohol. This will take a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Add the fish heads and turn, coating them in the sauce. Cook for 15 minutes, turning the fish heads a few times so they cook evenly on both sides
Remove the heads and use a teaspoon to scoop out as much of the flesh as you can. Concentrate on the cheeks, which is where the best meat is. Discard any skin and reserve the meat.
Roughly chop the empty heads and push them through a mouli, or pound in a sieve with a wooden spoon, to extract as much of the rich juices as possible. This will add body and soul to your sauce.
Return this mixture to the tomato and cook for 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and unctuous. Add the reserved meat to the sauce and check the seasoning. Serve with spaghetti or linguine.