Spaghetti with Tomato, Mackerel and Peas

Spaghetti is one of my favourite things to eat, and in a rather strange admission I don’t mind telling you that I like nothing more than to put as much spaghetti in my mouth as will possibly fit: I love the feel of the slippery strands as they wiggle around on my tongue. I don’t know why I like this feeling so much, I just do. If I were to write a song or poem about spaghetti then somewhere I would probably say “I love you spaghetti, you are delicious and so much fun to eat. I love to twirl you around my fork and slurp you into my mouth.” Granted this is no wonderfully eloquent piece of poetry, or deep and meaningful ballad, but it tells it as it is.

This is a quick evening meal that can realistically be made, and eaten, within 45 minutes, perhaps less if you are a quick chopper or fast spaghetti slurper. Just because it's a quick evening meals does not mean that the balance of the dish is overlooked – balance is paramount to the success. The tomato sauce has a savoury sweetness and a slight sharpness, the fish is rich and oily, the basil is anisey and fragrant, while the peas are fresh and light and add a ‘popping’ texture to the slick spaghetti.

The recipe details amounts per person, but it can very easily be adapted to fill unlimited numbers of hungry tummies.

This dish unashamedly uses canned mackerel. By all means use fresh if you want to, but I find that the stuff from a can is really great here and a big time saver. The cooking time is based on dried pasta, so adjust the recipe if you are using fresh.

·        Spaghetti – 100g-150g per person, I use wholewheat
·        Tomatoes – a 200g can of, and a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes
·        Mackerel – a can of, in olive oil
·        Peas – a frozen handful
·        Basil – a fresh handful
·        A clove of garlic finely chopped
·        Olive oil and balsamic vinegar
·        Sea salt, black pepper, sugar and a squeeze of lemon

Boil the spaghetti water with plenty of salt. Place the fresh tomatoes in a pan with a little olive oil and a pinch of sugar. Cook them quickly over a high heat, adding the can of tomatoes after a minute or so. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the packet instructions. By the time the pasta is ready the sauce will be finished.

Add the chopped garlic clove to the tomatoes and stir. Next add the peas. When the pasta is ready add the can of mackerel, including some of the olive oil, to the sauce. Stir it gentle so that it doesn’t break up too much and turn into a slushy mess. Add the basil and turn off the heat. Check the seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Serve in a deep bowl.

This dish is ideally suited to serve with a beer. The tomato sauce is rich and full of fresh flavours so you want a light and zesty beer with some fizz to lift the palate. Anchor’s Steam Beer is full-flavoured with some malt sweetness and a crisp hop hit at the end, Brakspear’s Oxford Gold is clean and delicious with a fresh fruitiness in the middle or Fuller’s HoneyDew has a sweetness to cut through the fish and work with the tomatoes and peas. Meantime’s Pilsner would be a nice choice or maybe White Shield IPA. A Belgian Blonde with some earthy spice would also work well.