Another post-Brexit recipe that uses frozen, dried and canned food. Its cheap and actually surprisingly good. This fed two of us because we were very hungry but probably its a good amount for three.
Ingredients
Olive Oil
Butter
Two tins of mackerel in tomato sauce
One tin tomato puree
Black olives
One onion or equivalent frozen pre-diced
Garlic to taste
Red chili flakes
Black pepper
Handful of fresh basil (or dried equivalent)
Handful fresh parsley (skip if no access to fresh)
Dried spaghetti (portion size is between you and your god(s), we all know how we over serve pasta)
Use an equivalent amount of olive oil and butter to fry the onions and garlic with the dried chili. If, in the post Brexit scarcity nightmare we end up living in, butter becomes scarce you can always cook without it. It just produces a nicer flavour over all if you use both. For the garlic I used a mixture of the pre-diced garlic in olive oil my fiancee does for me (I have joint issues so have to rely on pre-chopped things a lot) and the left over tubed puree she’d brought for something else a while ago. It doesn’t really matter what form of garlic you use however, even dried will work fine.
Once the onions are translucent add the tin of tomato puree and fry it in the oil/butter mix. Its important to fry it first because that will help develop that delicious umami flavour rather than the acidic or raw one undercooked tomato sauce can have. After about 30 seconds to a minute of stirring it add water and the fresh herbs to let it simmer until it tastes right. Meanwhile boil the pasta and set aside if it’s ready too soon. Once the sauce has the right flavour add the mackeral and stir it through, let it cook for about five minutes and then taste it. The tinned fish is quite salty so you might not need to add any extra but if you do add it now and let it cook a little longer. Finally add the olives, stir through the pasta and crack black pepper over it.
The Archivist Cooks 