- 6 months ago
Keep dinner simple and affordable with tinned fish and your noodles of choice! In this video, Chef John teaches you how to make tinned fish garlic noodles, a combination of two Depression-era classics with a fresh garlic twist. Toasted bread crumbs have a meaty effect in the noodles, boosting the texture for a filling, creamy dinner. Top with shredded Parmesan and chopped parsley for freshness in every bite!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Tinned Fish Garlic Noodles.
00:08That's right, we're combining two Depression-era classics.
00:12And whether you make this because it's very cheap to do, and using tinned fish is very popular right now,
00:17or you maybe just want to experience something your grandparents might have eaten during that time,
00:22there's a very good chance this makes your regular recipe rotation.
00:26And to get started, we'll begin with the star of the show, one can of sardines.
00:31And the first tip here is do not try to pull the top all the way off.
00:35Right, 75% of cuts and 90% of spills happen when people try to remove that fully, so just
00:42leave it.
00:43And then our second big tip is make sure you buy the sardines that are packed in olive oil,
00:48since we'll use that to help make our sauce.
00:50And it comes free with the sardines.
00:52So why some people drain that, I have no idea.
00:55But anyway, we'll transfer our tinned fish into a bowl, which technically are aluminum fish,
01:01but that just doesn't have the same ring to it.
01:04And then our third tinned fish tip.
01:06Do not look too close.
01:08You'll see things that cannot be unseen.
01:11But the good news is any bones or fins or vertebrae are going to be as soft and succulent as
01:16the meat
01:17because of how this is processed.
01:19So we get to use all of it.
01:21Nevertheless, we will cover that as quickly as possible with the rest of our ingredients,
01:26including a ton of finely minced or crushed garlic,
01:29followed by some red chili flakes,
01:32if you're doing the spicy version, which we are.
01:35And then we'll also add some freshly chopped Italian parsley, but not all of it.
01:40We'll save some to finish our noodles with.
01:42And then last but not least, we'll add some more olive oil,
01:45since there's not going to be quite enough in the can to do the job.
01:49And that's it.
01:50We'll take a fork and give this a thorough mashing.
01:53And that's it.
01:54Once our sardine mixture has been properly forked,
01:56we will transfer that into the fridge.
01:58And we will move on to our second major component,
02:01which is going to be some torn pan-fried bread,
02:04since the two Depression-era dishes that inspired this
02:07would be a sardine spaghetti and a breadcrumb pasta.
02:11Except we are not doing crumbs.
02:14What we actually want to do here is tear up some day-old or fresh bread,
02:18both will work, into like jagged half or one-inch pieces.
02:22And while some people do this same type of dish with breadcrumbs,
02:25the better cooks during the Depression-era
02:27always use bigger pieces of bread like this,
02:30which once fried and incorporated into our noodles
02:33is going to give us something much closer to the texture of some chunks of meat.
02:38And for me, this is an absolute key to the dish.
02:41And once we do have our bread torn up as shown,
02:44we will head to the stove.
02:46And we'll place a nice big pan over medium-high heat.
02:49And we'll transfer our torn bread in,
02:51along with a fairly generous amount of olive oil,
02:54plus a little pinch of salt.
02:56And then what we'll do is cook these stirring and or tossing,
03:00until the outsides get beautifully crispy and golden brown.
03:03But the insides of the larger pieces
03:05still retain a little bit of chewiness.
03:08And that's what's going to give us, as I touched on earlier,
03:11that sort of meaty effect we want,
03:13which I believe makes the final dish way more satisfying
03:16and interesting to eat.
03:18And by the way, once these start to crisp up,
03:20we can probably back our heat down to medium,
03:23since we don't want the smaller pieces to turn black
03:25before the rest of the pieces are cooked properly.
03:28And then once we're happy with how these are looking,
03:31and also how they're sounding,
03:33which should be something like this,
03:37we'll go ahead and drizzle in a little more olive oil,
03:40plus a spoon of minced garlic.
03:43And we'll stir and toss that around for about 30 to 45 seconds,
03:47just to toast that garlic a little bit.
03:50And we don't have to add the garlic,
03:52since there's plenty in the pasta.
03:54But if I have some of these left over,
03:56and I'm going to use them on a salad,
03:57it's kind of nice if they're already garliced.
04:00But either way, once these are set,
04:02we'll pull them off the stove,
04:03and transfer everything into a bowl,
04:05and we'll reserve that until we need it.
04:08And once our two main components are prepped,
04:11we can go ahead and boil our spaghetti
04:12in some generously salted water, as usual.
04:16And by the way, anything's going to work for this recipe.
04:19Okay, I named the dish Noodles,
04:21since that has a very broad appeal.
04:23And while I think the spaghetti works perfectly,
04:26some ramen noodles would work,
04:27or rice noodles would work,
04:29or pretty much any other kind of pasta you like.
04:32And then while our pasta's boiling,
04:34we will put that same pan back over medium-high heat,
04:37and we will transfer in our gorgeous sardine mixture.
04:41And yes, I'm kind of kidding.
04:43All right, if the Great Depression had a color,
04:45this would be it.
04:47But that's fine, because it makes
04:48an absolutely gorgeous pasta, as you'll see.
04:51And what we'll do, just as soon as this mixture
04:53starts to fry in the pan,
04:55is give it a stir,
04:56and we'll just let it cook for 30 seconds,
04:58before we turn the heat off,
05:00and wait for our pasta to finish cooking.
05:03And we don't really have to cook this, by the way.
05:05But I do like to take the raw edge off that garlic,
05:08just to mellow it out a little bit.
05:10But anyway, whether you cook that,
05:12and for how long is up to you.
05:14I mean, you are, after all, the Herbert Hoover.
05:16Of what to do here.
05:18But in any event, once our pasta is cooked,
05:20we will use some tongs to transfer directly from the water into the pan,
05:24since we do want some of that pasta water coming with it.
05:28Plus, we're going to be adding some of that pasta water in to finish the sauce.
05:31And if you drain your pasta in the sink, that's not happening.
05:34But anyway, once that's transferred in,
05:37we'll give it a good toss with our tongs,
05:39and we'll put our heat back on low to keep things warm.
05:42And then once we've stirred everything together,
05:45we'll splash in a few spoons of pasta water,
05:47and we'll give it another toss and observe,
05:50since that might be enough water, but it might not be.
05:54And you may very well decide to add some more in, which I did.
05:58Okay, it all depends on how creamy, quote, unquote, you want your sauce.
06:02So keep splashing and stirring until you're happy.
06:05And when you are, and right here I was,
06:08we'll go ahead and turn off the heat,
06:10and we'll finish this up with some more freshly chopped Italian parsley,
06:14as well as some Parmesan cheese if we have it.
06:17All right, that's optional,
06:18but it definitely makes the dish a lot richer and more delicious, I think.
06:22And then we'll also toss in about half our fried bread,
06:25and I generally go with the larger pieces,
06:27so we can save those smaller pieces to crumble over the top.
06:30And then I like to finish up with one more drizzle of olive oil,
06:33before giving this a final toss.
06:36And of course, you probably want a taste for seasoning,
06:39although with the cheese and the sardine,
06:41there's probably going to be enough salt.
06:43And that's it, once everything's been stirred together,
06:45we can go ahead and serve up.
06:47And then as far as garnishing goes,
06:49I'm going to finish with a little more grated cheese.
06:52Plus, we'll take our reserved crispy fried garlic bread,
06:55and we will crumble that generously over the top.
06:58And we'll finish up with one more pinch of parsley,
07:01and our tin fish garlic noodles are ready to enjoy.
07:05So I cleaned off the bowl,
07:07and took way, way too many contractually obligated pictures,
07:10before I grabbed a fork and spoon and dug in.
07:13And that, my friends, was so incredible in both taste and texture,
07:17I'm not sure which one I should discuss first.
07:19But let's go with the taste,
07:21which is very reminiscent of like a garlic clam pasta.
07:25All right, people would definitely know this is a seafood pasta,
07:27but unless you're super familiar with sardines,
07:30you might not even realize they're in here.
07:33And of course, a ton of garlic, and parsley, and olive oil, and parmesan don't hurt.
07:37So I really do think the taste is exceptional,
07:40especially if you enjoy other garlic noodle recipes.
07:43All right, if so, you're really going to love this.
07:46And then as far as the texture goes,
07:48that crispy fried torn bread,
07:50which is definitely still crispy on the outside,
07:52as that softens slightly once it's mixed into the noodles,
07:56it really does feature quite a meaty mouthfeel.
07:59So while just a plain sardine spaghetti would have been nice,
08:02as would have been just a plain garlic olive oil pasta with the breadcrumbs on it,
08:06when we combine those two things together,
08:09I think we create something better than both those things on their own.
08:12And by the way, during the Great Depression,
08:15anyone that had room to plant a garden did.
08:17So in the summer, if you have some tomatoes, or peppers, or zucchini, or beans,
08:21go ahead and throw them in.
08:22All right, this is very adaptable, so have fun.
08:25But whether you add other things or not,
08:28I really think you're going to love these tinfish garlic noodles,
08:30which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon.
08:34So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
08:38a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
08:42And as always, enjoy.
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