Sun-dried tomato and sardine spaghetti
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Sun-dried tomato and sardine spaghetti
Whizzed together in a blender, the easy pasta sauce here is the perfect match for budget-friendly tinned sardines. Use tinned tuna or pan-fried prawns if you prefer
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Ingredients
- ½ vegetable stock cube
- 1 x 280g jar sun-dried tomatoes, plus 1 tbsp oil from the jar
- 100g lighter crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 25g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated, plus extra to serve (optional)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 360g wholewheat spaghetti
- 2 x 120g tins sardines in spring water, drained
- handful basil leaves (optional)
Step by step
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Dissolve the ½ stock cube in 100ml just-boiled water, then top up with 75ml cold water. Use a fork to drain the sun-dried tomatoes from the jar onto a kitchen paper-lined plate. Reserve 40g tomatoes in a bowl, then put the rest in a blender with 1 tablespoon of oil from the jar and the crème fraîche, tomato purée, parmesan, peeled garlic clove and stock. Blitz until smooth, season to taste and set aside.
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Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to pack instructions. Meanwhile, slice the remaining sun-dried tomatoes and break the sardines into small chunks. Once the spaghetti is al dente, reserve a mugful of the cooking water, then drain. Return the pasta to the pan, stir through the tomato sauce and warm through over a low heat for 2 minutes. Add enough of the cooking water to give a silky coating consistency. Gently stir through the sliced sun-dried tomatoes and sardines until combined. Divide among shallow bowls and top with a grind of black pepper, basil and extra parmesan, if liked.
