This time I’m going to show a very easy recipe that can be made at any day of the week 🙂 it’s very easy, and it’s very healthy because the mackerel is one of those oily fish which are rich in Omega 3 (and not only). Moreover it’s also not expensive at all.

I have already talked about the mackerel in a previous post, but this time I’m going to do it with pasta.

To obtain the best flavor and to have the maximum amount of healthy nutrients from the mackerel, it’s very important to buy a very fresh fish, because this kind of oily fish are very perishable. Also if you want to freeze them, be sure to buy very fresh ones.

To recognize when it’s fresh it’s not too difficult: first of all the color must be vivid and bright, not opaque. Second the flesh must be compact/stiff and not floppy, if you bend it the skin shouldn’t make wrinkled, and you have to use some power to bend it. The eyes must look as much transparent and convex as possible, when it’s concave and cloudy it’s old. The gills must be of a vivid dark red/purple color as much as possible and with free blood (the closer they are to be bleached and with brown slime, the older it is), moreover if you smell the gills they must have a fresh and metallic/blood smell. Good fish is never stinky, but it has a good sea smell 🙂 also your hands shouldn’t have a strong fish smell after you have cleaned it.

Let’s see the recipe.

INGREDIENTS (2 people):

• 200 g spaghetti
• 1 mackerel of about 400-450 g 
• 200-250 g tomato sauce
• spring onions, or onion
• some black olives (in this case I had Kalamata olives)
• some capers
• half glass of dry white wine
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt

1. First of all clean the mackerel, make the fillets, remove the bones (on the belly you easily remove with a good knife, while the bones in the middle of the fillet you have to pull out), then remove the skin, and cut it into pieces.
2. Take a pan and heat the extra virgin olive oil, then add the spring onion cut into slices, then the olives and then the fish.
3. When the onions are softer, set the heat higher and add the wine. Keep it high until reduced, then add the tomato sauce and the capers, and set the heat on medium/low. Season with some salt. Meanwhile boil also the pasta in salted water.
4. When the pasta is ready, drain it and add it to the pan with the sauce. Add also a ladle of boiling water, mix together.
5. Serve it, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and enjoy 🙂 if you want you could add also some freshly chopped parsley.