Location: My tiny kitchen

At the university that I attended, there is a bookstore on campus that carries a fairly complete selection of books for all the university courses. At the beginning of each semester, the bookstore was packed with students, all in a rush to buy all the books required by their enrolled courses. In my first semester as a freshman, I remember the average lineup for the cashier at the bookstore was 45 minutes! Nowadays I believe a lot of course materials are delivered over the internet, and therefore I’m not sure if the bookstore is still as busy. Despite the long wait, I have always loved hanging out at the campus bookstore. Please don’t read into this and be mistaken that I was a studious student. For I wasn’t browsing any thick and heavy textbook on educational subjects such as math, statistics, economics or biochemistry. I was spending all my time in the cookbooks section, or precisely, I was going through every cookbook that was on sale! It was one of my favourite things to do during class break. My interest for cooking started when I was at university and therefore I was excited as I flipped through pages and pages of recipes on different cuisines. I was even more excited by the fact that the cookbooks could be discounted to as low as five dollars a book. I might not remember the linear algebra that I learned from that second year math class, but I would always remember this unbeatable price.

This recipe is taken from a pasta cookbook that I bought on sale at the campus bookstore. According to this book, this recipe is a common and traditional pasta recipe in Italian cooking. What I find interesting about this recipe is that the sardine is used more like a seasoning rather than as a main ingredient. With the garlic, the sardine delivers a great pack of flavour to the pasta.

I must admit, I might not have scored an A in that linear algebra course, but my tummy was always well-treated. And there’s not a drop of regret in that, I tell ya

This recipe serves 2 people and you will need:

- 1 can of sardine in vegetable oil, preferably imported from Spain or Portugal
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 tsp of seed style mustard
- 1 mined shallot
- 1 tsp of chopped oregano
- Spaghetti enough for 2 people
- 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1/4 cup of heavy cream or whipping cream
- 1/2 of a lemon
- A few sprigs of parsley, chopped

1. Drain the oil from the sardine. Place the meat in a bowl. Using a fork, mash the sardine into a paste.
2. Add the garlic, shallot, garlic, 1 tsp of salt and freshly ground pepper into the sardine. Mix well.
3. Cook pasta according to instructions on the package. (I always follow the rule of using plenty of water, put in a large scoop of salt after the pasta, and check taste them to see if they are cooked).
4. Drain the pasta and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
5. In a pan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, saute the sardine mixture for 1 minute.

6. Place the pasta into the pan. Mix the pasta with the sardine. Put in the oregano. When you see the pasta is getting dry, add in 1/2 cup of pasta water. Continue to cook until the sardine is fully incorporated with the pasta. Add 1/4 cup of pasta water if needed. This takes about 2 minutes.
7. Add the cream into the pan. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice. Continue to cook the pasta until the cream is slightly reduced and there is just a bit of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Mix in the walnuts.
8. Place the pasta on a dish. Sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano and chopped parsley. If desired, sprinkle chili flakes on top.