Crumbed sardines with sou’western pasta

SERVES 2

100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) dried black-eyed peas

200 g (7 oz) angel hair pasta or spaghettini

3 tablespoons lime juice

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) Belgian-style wit beer

1 tablespoon butter

½ red onion, finely diced

½ long red chilli, seeded and very finely diced

25 g (1 oz/½ cup) chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and finely diced

CRUMBED SARDINES

100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) dry breadcrumbs

25 g (1 oz/¼ cup) grated parmesan cheese

1 free-range egg

150 g (5½ oz/1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour

6 butterflied sardine fillets

olive oil, for shallow-frying

Soak the black-eyed peas overnight in plenty of cold water. Drain them, place in a saucepan, cover with cold water – do not salt the water! – and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a rolling simmer and cook for about 35 minutes, or until tender. Drain the peas, reserving about 185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) of the cooking liquid for the sauce.

If you forget to soak the peas overnight, here’s a quick method. Put them in a glass microwave bowl and cover with about 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) water. Cover with a lid and microwave on high for about 11 minutes.

To crumb the sardines, combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan and spread out on a plate. Beat the egg in a bowl and set aside. Put the flour in a clean plastic bag and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the sardine fillets and gently shake the bag to coat the sardines with the flour. Remove the sardines from the bag, shaking off the excess flour. Dip them into the beaten egg, making sure they are completely covered, then dredge them in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing the sardines into the mixture to coat them well.

Heat enough olive oil for shallow-frying (about 1 cm/½ inch) in a frying pan over medium–high heat. Fry three sardines at a time, turning them often so they cook evenly without burning. When golden brown, remove from the oil using tongs and place on paper towels to drain. Place in a warm oven while the next batch is cooking.

Meanwhile, fill a large saucepan with water, add a generous pinch of salt and bring to the boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente.

Put the lime juice and beer in a frying pan over medium–high heat and bring to the boil. Add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the onion and chilli, then add the coriander, black-eyed peas and lastly the tomato. You don’t want to cook the onion or tomato, just warm them through. If you can, time all this so that the pasta is ready to put into the frying pan just after you have added the tomato.

Using tongs, take the pasta out of the boiling water and put it straight into the pan with the sauce. It is okay to not drain the pasta, as the extra water clinging to it will add volume and flavour to the sauce. Mix thoroughly.

Stack three sardines on top of each other on one side of a plate. Using a fork, twirl half the pasta and place it next to the sardines, carefully removing the fork so that the pasta stands up in a twirled tower. Repeat on another plate with the remaining sardines and pasta. Spoon the sauce remaining in the pan over the pasta towers and around the plates.

Serve with a side salad.

Beer Notes

Suitable wit beers for this dish include Hoegaarden Witbier, Feral White, Wicked Elf Witbier and Holgate White Ale