Pasta with spicy sardine and tomato sauce

This quick pasta dish is based on two store cupboard essentials: tinned tomatoes and tinned fish. Sardines pack a punch nutrionally and are a really cheap way to get omega 3 fats, calcium and protein into your diet.

This recipe is part of a budget student meal plan for one. It is designed to be made in conjunction with a low-cost store-cupboard .

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• ½ onion, very finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, very finely sliced
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• pinch sugar (optional)
• 1 pitta bread
• 1 tin sardines in spicy tomato sauce
• 80g/2¾oz dried penne pasta
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• few basil leaves, to garnish
• red chilli, finely chopped, to garnish (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and cook over a low–medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onion is softened but not browning. Add the tomatoes and sugar (if using) and season with black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes over a low–medium heat.

2. Toast the pitta until well browned before blitzing to rough crumbs in a food processor or blender (alternatively, put the toasted and cooled pitta in a sealed bag and smash up with a rolling pin or a tin). Tip into a dry frying pan and toast further until fully dried out, crispy and brown. Set aside.

3. Divide the tomato sauce in half and place half in a sealed container in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch (see Recipe Tip). Leave the other half in the pan. Add the sardines in spicy tomato sauce, using a fork to break up the sardines and mix into the tomato sauce. Keep warm over a low heat while you cook the pasta.

4. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving the cooking water, and toss with the sardine and tomato sauce, adding a splash of the pasta cooking water if needed to loosen. Mix half of the toasted pitta breadcrumbs in a bowl with some basil leaves and red chilli, if using. Place the remaining pitta breadcrumbs in an airtight container and store at room temperature. Sprinkle the pasta with the basil and breadcrumb mixture and serve.

Recipe Tips

Tip 1: Use half of the tomato sauce in the main pasta recipe and save the rest in a sealed container in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch (see below).

Tip 2: Keep half of the toasted pitta crumbs in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tip 3: If you’re following the budget student meal plan, tomorrow’s lunch is baked egg in tomato sauce with ricotta and toasted pitta. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Tip the leftover tomato sauce (see above) into a small ovenproof dish. Make a well in the centre and crack in 1 free-range egg. Spoon 50g/1¾oz ricotta in small piles over the tomato mixture. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and bake for 15–20 minutes, until the egg white is set. Remove from the oven and leave for a couple of minutes to cool slightly. Just before serving, sprinkle with a few small basil leaves. Serve with a toasted pitta bread (taken from the freezer and defrosted before toasting).

Pasta with spicy sardine and tomato sauce