Pasta with Caperberries, Hake, and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Gustiamo is on a caperberry kick. We can’t stop cooking with them; we’ve been adding caperberries to just about everything lately. When our friend, Chef Silvia Barban of LaRina, heard about our caperberry obsession, she created this pasta recipe for us. For this amazing pasta dish, Chef Silvia uses sun-dried tomatoes from Maida Farm and a local fish, Hake aka Haddock, to add just enough sweetness. We are in love with this pasta! Our friend Danielle Glantz of Pastaio Via Corta was also inspired by Chef Silvia and made this variation of her recipe with crushed Noto almonds.

Ingredients

SERVES: 5-6 people
TIME: 35 minutes

Calamari Faella (500 gr/1.1 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons caperberries, rinsed and sliced into small circles
4 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 tablespoon Tomato Concentrate
1 fillet of white flaky fish (we used Hake aka Haddock), sliced into chunks
2 tablespoons of fennel fronds
2 tablespoons of toasted homemade breadcrumbs
Sea salt
Black pepper

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. In a pan, sautee over medium heat the garlic cloves in extra virgin olive oil until lightly browned (about 4 minutes).
3. Season the fillet of hake with salt and place in the pan, skin-side down. Cook the fillet for about 3–4 minutes, or until the skin has become crisp. Remove from the pan and keep it covered.
4. Add caperberries and sun-dried tomatoes, and cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, dissolve in half cup glass of wine the tomato concentrate. Increase the heat to high, pour the wine and let it reduce (about 3 minutes). Discard the garlic.
6. Pull the fillet apart into good-sized shreds. Add to the pan, turn the heat off and mix in the fennel.
7. Cook Calamari for about 11 minutes. Drain, saving 1 cup of pasta water.
8. Toss the pasta into the pan, pouring pasta water (one tablespoon at a time) until Calamari are well coated with its sauce.
9. Serve the pasta, topping each plate with breadcrumbs and more fennel.