THE HOUSE OF PAIRINGS | recipe of Davide Di Corato

With this recipe, redolent of the sea and the Mediterranean,  is a perfect pairing, in the extreme simplicity of its ingredients, with a rich  wine such as Bidis , a golden colored Chardonnay with a soft and ample palate, one with a lingering crispness and savor.

A sip of sunny Sicily!

Ingredients for 4 persons
10 ounces of thick spaghetti
1 garlic clove
1 organic clove
1 bay leaf
1 glass of white wine
Sarawak-type white pepper inn grains
extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium-size mackerels
1 tomato
1 bay leaf
1 branch of wild fennel
capers (under salt)
1 hot pepper

Clean the mackerel, filet it, and eliminate the bones. Save the bones and head. Put the garlic clove and the herbs into a deep pot and heat for a few minutes at a low temperature. Add the head and bones of the mackerel, add the white wine and let it evaporate. Cover with at least three fingers height of water and cook for at least an hour until the water has been reduced by a half. In the meantime, separate the mackerel from its belly, working carefully in order to not break them. Cut the belly and the filets in half or into three pieces if they are large. When the fish broth has been reduced, take it off the flame and pour it through a fine mesh strainer or a colander, mashing well the solid parts. Clean the pot in which the fish broth has been prepared.
In the meantime, heat the oven to a temperature of 320° Fahrenheit and put the pot for the pasta on the flame. Put the pan used for cooking the fish broth back onto the flame and pour the broth back into it. Reduce the sauce until it is almost a syrup in consistence, but to excess. When it is ready, add the mackerel belly. When the sauce is ready, add salt. Put the filets into a Teflon dish, drizzle a bit of oil over them, and sprinkle them with a bit of flour. Place in the oven making sure the skin is not in contact with the dish, and cook for approximately 7 minutes, and keep them warm after they have been cooked. Drain the pasta and pour it into the pan with the sauce, reserving a bit of cooking water as well. Serve on a platter with the filets on top of the pasta and easily visible. Finish the dish by drizzling a bit of olive oil ove it and adding pepper and serve.