By Ippolita Douglas Scotti:
If you want to cook a very quick dish with all the flavor of Sicily, you have to taste this delicious spicy spaghetti. With the very first bite you’ll capture the feeling of Southern Italy on a sunny summer day. The taste of pescespada, as we call the swordfish in Italian (pesce is "fish" and spada is "sword"), will make you dream of the blue Mediterranean Sea kissed by the sun.
This pasta was usually cooked on the boat by the sailors. This recipe is so easy that you can prepare it in the time it takes to cook the pasta. If you want a truly Sicilian flavor, add fried breadcrumbs to the top. Fried breadcrumbs are typical on Southern pasta dishes; they add crispiness and make every dish delicious. (You can even create a quick dish with only pasta, breadcrumbs, garlic, and oil.)
It’s time to bring your spaghetti to a boil and make a fantastic sauce!
Spaghetti with Swordfish
1 lb (450 g) spaghetti
10 oz (300 g) fresh swordfish
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small fresh, hot red pepper
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Black olives, pitted
Fresh parsley
Salt
Bring the salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente.
While the pasta cooks, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and hot pepper and cook briefly.
Turn the heat to high and add the cherry tomatoes and black olives, stirring just long enough to soften the tomatoes and draw out some of their sweet juice.
Add big dices of swordfish, cook and stir. Stir in the parsley.
Drain the pasta and gently toss into the swordfish mixture in the sauce pan.
Serve immediately.
Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigileno is a true Italian—born in Florence, Italy, from a long line of eccentric Italian aristocrats, she has traveled the world in search of adventure, romance, and magical, mouth-watering recipes. "Ippo" loves Italian history, especially as it relates to food. Author of There's a Beatle in My Soup, Curcuma e Zenzero (Ginger & Tumeric), 101 Perche Sulla Storia di Firenze (101 questions on Florence History), The Grimore, The Magic of the Moon, and Magic Herbs (all published by Newton Compton Publishers).