Stir-fried Linguine with Garlic Chives and Sardines

I make pasta often and have always been open-minded about mixing and matching handy ingredients. One day I didn’t have time to shop for food and only got a small bunch of chives home, so I matched them with a can of sardines but didn’t expect too much. It’s quick and easy, only several minutes poaching and stir-frying, but the taste was surprisingly good.

Garlic chive is one of the key seasoning herbs in Chinese cuisine, and has been used in many Asian cuisines. It can be cultivated easily even indoor, like spring onion. For this recipe, I used those with unopened flower buds. And for the pasta, I would prefer flat pasta, such as linguine or fettuccine. They are coated with other ingredients easily.

Ingredients –
Linguine, for 2 serving;
Garlic chives, 1 bunch;
Sardines, a small can, 125g;
Sun-dried tomato, 4 pieces;
Garlic, 3 cloves, sliced;
Salt and extra-virgin olive oil.

How to do –
1. Chop off the bottom tough part of the chives, about 1 inch, then cut into matchsticks;

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2. Sun-dried tomato also roughly sliced;

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3. For 2 serving I only use a small can of sardines, and wouldn’t use the oil;

4. Cook the linguine al dente, make sure to season the water with 1 tsp of salt. Drain but keep the water, then start frying other ingredients;

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5. Heat some olive oil in hot frying-pan, fry the garlic slices till fragrant;

6. Put in the sardines, roughly break apart with your frying spoon, also fry till fragrant;

7. Put in the garlic chives, linguine, some salt for seasoning, a few spoon of pasta water, then flip and stir-fry for 1 minute in high heat. Garlic chives are cooked in seconds. Pasta water can help mix all ingredients and flavours together;

8. Put in the sun-dried tomato, flip well then it’s good to plate;

9. Drizzle a few more drops of olive oil on top before serving.