Bigoli pasta with sardines "Bigoli con le sardelle"

Lombardy

Cooking time: about 15 minutes Difficulty: Ingredients, amounts for 4 people: garlic: 1 clove Venetian spaghetti-like pasta, traditionally hand-rolled: 14 oz olive oil: salt: sardines: 7½ oz

Preparation: Clean and scale the fish, then wash well and dry. Heat a saucepan with plenty of salted water and, once the water boils, throw in the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, brown the crushed clove of garlic in the oil over low heat, then remove the garlic and put in the sardines, crushing them up with a fork: pay attention that the fish must cook but not fry in the oil. Drain the 'bigoli' (spaghetti-like, hand rolled pasta) cooked to be slightly 'al dente' and dress them with the sauce. Mix together and serve without the addition of Parmesan cheese, as is the case with almost all fish-based first course dishes.