When I’m lost as to what to make for dinner, my most trusted go-to is a pouch or two of those ready-cooked grains you find in supermarkets (spelt, barley or lentils) with a tin of tuna or mackerel and bits and bobs of whatever I have kicking around: baby tomatoes, red onion, chunks of fennel, courgette, peppers, mozzarella, boiled egg, you name it … All of it goes into the big salad bowl to be tossed together with a generous glug of olive oil and fresh parsley or basil. It’s one of those dishes that has a sort of miraculous five-loaves-and-two-fish quality about it, where you can stretch it out to feed a small army or contentedly just make it for yourself. Either way, it’s happiness in a bowl and always leaves me wondering how something quite so good came to be my supper when I thought I had nothing in the fridge.
You can make this dish with tinned sardines, mackerel (as here) or even tuna — either which way, it’s a glorious marriage of slightly sweet, just caramelised fennel, with the rich meatiness of the fish.
Serves
4 people
Ingredients
350g fusilli
1 medium-sized bulb of fennel
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp caster sugar
250g tinned mackerel, drained
Zest of 1 lemon
A handful of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
01 Bring a large pan of generously salted water to the boil. When the water begins to gallop, add the pasta and cook al dente as per the instructions on the packet.
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02 Thinly slice the fennel into fine rounds using a knife or mandoline. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the fennel and sugar and cook over a medium-low heat for 12-14 min, until the fennel begins to caramelise.
03 Drain the mackerel and add to the pan, breaking up the fillets a little with a wooden spoon. Add the lemon zest and cook for a few minutes, then take off the heat. Add the parsley and season with black pepper to taste.
04 Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan with the fennel, along with a generous splash of the cooking water. Serve immediately.
