Linguini con Spada - Linguini with Swordfish
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A pasta dish that is full of flavor and simple to prepare. If your fishmonger does not have a thick piece of swordfish, ask him to cut you a piece while you wait.
Author:
Serves: 6 as a Primi, 4 as a Secondi
Ingredients
  • 1⅔ pound piece of a thick swordfish steak
  • 4 wedges of preserved lemon
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 2 plump cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 1½ Tbs capers, rinsed of salt or drained if in brine
  • ½ cup chopped Italian parsley leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt for the pasta water
  • 1 pound of imported Italian linguini, whole wheat or regular
  • Extra Virgin Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
  1. Using a sharp chefs knife, trim the thick skin off of the edge of the swordfish and discard. Do this carefully as swordfish is an expensive cut of fish and you do not want to waste any of the flesh. Cut the swordfish into ¾ inch cubes and place them in an cast iron skillet or roasting pan.
  2. Remove any seeds that may be in the lemons and cut the wedges into ½ pieces.
  3. Add the cut lemons, garlic, capers and olive oil to the swordfish, stir well to coat the swordfish evenly with the mixture. Set aside in the refrigerator for 1 hour to marinate.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425ยบ. Remove the marinated swordfish from the refrigerator and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
  5. Place a large pot of cold water on the stove over high heat. Have a warm serving bowl for the finished pasta dish ready.
  6. Place the swordfish into the preheated oven and cook for 5 minutes, open the oven quickly and stir the contents of the skillet, return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes. The swordfish should be cooked, moist in the center without being dry. Remove about ½ of the mixture to the warm serving bowl, set the rest aside on a plate, leaving it in the skillet will result in additional cooking of the swordfish - do not do this.
  7. In the meantime, once the pasta water comes to a boil, add a generous handful of salt, stir, add the linguini, stir again. Check the recommended cooking time on the package and reduce it to achieve the al dente stage; if using whole wheat pasta it is sometimes necessary to reduce the time by close to one third. Either way, you must taste it to check, remember pasta continues to cook once it is removed from the water.
  8. Drain the pasta directly into the warm serving bowl with half of the swordfish mixture, top with the remaining swordfish along with half of the chopped parsley. Do not discard the pasta cooking water as you may want to add some of it to the finished dish if needed. Mix well using kitchen thongs, be sure that the linguini strands are coated with the liquid from the roasted swordfish and parsley. The pasta should not be soupy yet not at all dry, if you would like to loosen it up a bit add about ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water.
  9. Sprinkle the top of the dish with some additional chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Recipe by LaBellaSorella at http://labellasorella.com/2015/02/linguini-with-swordfish/