Trenette Alla Renaiola: Sauce with Turnip Greens and Herring
This dish combines linguine-like trenette pasta with a flavorful sauce of turnip tops or leafy greens and herring. It's a traditional Pisan recipe that offers a delicious mix of the sea and the garden.
Equipment
- Knife
- Skillet
- Large pot
Ingredients
- Turnip tops or tender leafy greens enough to fill 4 cups when chopped
- 1 herring fillet cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 chili pepper finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- A few cherry tomatoes halved (optional)
- 14 ounces about 1 and 3/4 cups trenette pasta (or substitute with linguine if unavailable)
Instructions
- Prepare Garlic and Chili: Begin by cleaning your garlic and chili pepper. Then, heat them in olive oil until they just start to sizzle, ensuring not to burn the garlic.1 chili pepper, 1 garlic clove, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sauté Greens: Add the cleaned, washed and sliced turnip tops or leafy greens to the skillet. Cook them for about 10 minutes until they're wilted and tender.Turnip tops or tender leafy greens
- Cook Herring and Tomatoes: In another skillet, fry the herring pieces and optional cherry tomatoes in olive oil with a minced garlic clove for about 8 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.1 herring fillet, A few cherry tomatoes
- Mix Sauce: Combine the sautéed greens with the herring and tomatoes, creating a rich and flavorful sauce.
- Boil Pasta: Meanwhile, cook the trenette pasta in a large pot of non salted boiling water until it's al dente, which should take about 8 minutes. Do not salt the pasta in this dish, the salt from the herring will be enough to salt everything.14 ounces about 1 and 3/4 cups trenette pasta
- Combine and Serve: Drain the pasta and mix it well with the sauce. Toss everything together in the skillet for a minute to let the flavors meld. Serve hot.
Notes
- You can substitute trenette pasta with linguine if trenette is unavailable. Linguine offers a similar texture and surface area for the sauce to cling to, making it a suitable alternative for this dish.
- If herring is not available, you can substitute it with another oily fish such as sardines or mackerel. These fish share a similar fat content and flavor profile, which can complement the turnip greens or leafy greens well in the Pasta alla Renaiola.