A friend of mine, Matt Taylor asked recently if I picked up any recipes on a recent trip to Montreal. I couldn’t recall a particular recipe, but I did have a wonderful dish with sardines. Therefore I decided to make a sardine based pasta sauce with linguine. I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate depth of flavor from the sardine in the sauce. Serve with a nice Chianti.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 scallions, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1 sardine, from can preserved in olive oil.

1 teaspoon kosher salt, fresh black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1-28oz can peeled San Marzano tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 dried bay leaves

Few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Aged parmigiano-reggiano (optional)

1. In a large stainless steel pan heat the olive oil over a medium flame. In a food processor chop scallions, garlic and sardine. Add the mixture to the pan until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Chop the carrots in the processor and add to the pan with salt and pepper. Saute until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add tomato paste to the middle of the pan and then stir.
3. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, oregano, worcestershire sauce and bay leaves, bring to boil and then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 large spoons of pasta water to sauce. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
4. Add the linguine to the sauce and serve with parmigiano-reggiano.