Sardines (POST Eating)

So we didn't die. I marinated the little headless-wonders in garlic and fresh herbs with a little lemon zest and olive oil. Grilled to bronzed perfection they were quite nice! The Husband was perturbed by the bones (as quite honestly so was I) and kept saying, "I might get punctured."

The bones, I was told, were supposed to be cooked out... they weren't. And one can only assume that I have more calcium than I did this time yesterday. But the fish were crispy skinned and yummy.

I paired them with an eggplant pesto pasta, which in retrospect was not that right flavor combo for the same plate. We made the eggplant pesto by roasting a whole eggplant with an onion some garlic cloves and cherry tomatoes. The pureeing it in the processor adding some olive oil, a little red wine vinegar. I made it a couple of hours ahead, then when the pasta was almost done I spooned the right amount of eggplant mixture into a sauté pan and added a little ricotta and some Romano cheese, a little pasta water and heated it through. Then I poured in the orecchiette (because I first had this dish in Bari), turned off the heat and tossed in a little chopped basil. It was great! but not exactly right. If anyone has a recipe like this I'd love to know it. We had it originally at La Cecchina restaurant in Bari and it's one of the great food memories.

So that's that. Next up: squid.... They are frozen in the freezer right now... and I have to pull out their eyes and stuff.