Earlier today, just before migrating from desk to kitchen to prepare lunch, I happened to stumble upon this video clip, which I shot in Sicily last spring while driving around town with my cousins.
In Sicily, it’s common to see cows and sheep block traffic, so my cousins had a good laugh when I took out my video camera to film the cows crossing.
More than the image, I was interested in capturing the sound of their march. Although I’ve heard it countless times, I never seem to get tired of hearing the bells of livestock as they walk in unison.
Hearing them today on an empty stomach, my mind started to conjure up my favorite Sicilian flavors and the first thing that came to mind ironically was not meat or dairy, but seafood.
With no fresh fish in the house, and little time to spare for lunch, I remembered the jar of artisanal Sicilian tuna in my pantry. While there are several ways I like to use this tuna, I decided to make it into a sauce for spaghetti. It’s a classic Sicilian recipe, it’s really delicious and it’s easy and fast to make.
Here’s the recipe for 4 people:
1. Bring water to a boil. Salt it well (it should taste like seawater). Put 1lb of spaghetti in the water and cook al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, saute 1 large onion, sliced thinly, with olive oil in a pan. When cooked, add some capers, more or less of them depending on your taste. * Whether using vinegar or salt preserved capers, make sure to rinse them well before putting adding them to the onions.
3. Add anywhere from 300-400 oz. of Sicilian tuna. If you don’t have a jar or can of artisanal Sicilian tuna, any canned tuna in olive oil will work fine.
4. Add a 25 oz. can of cherry tomatoes or chopped plum tomato sauce and a touch of water.
5. Add salt, pepper and a good quality dried oregano. If you have some Sicilian black pitted olives, you can add them too, but it’s optional.
6. Cook for about 5 minutes. Toss with the cooked spaghetti. Drizzle with raw extra virgin olive oil. Serve.
Tags: Cow bells, Melissa Muller Daka, Sicilian food, Sicilian tuna, spaghetti, tuna fish
