Spaghetti with Lampedusa-style red mullet ragù, or if you prefer, red mullet ragù with wild fennel and toasted bread crumb. My recipe is Lampedusan, or rather Sicilian, with pine nuts, capers and toasted crumb: it couldn’t be otherwise. Red mullet is a highly regarded fish. The name is said to come from a popular belief that it reproduced three times a year, whereas the real spawning period is between May and August. The best time to eat them is from late summer through December. There are two types of red mullet: mud-dwelling and rock-dwelling, but nutritionally their origin makes no difference. Both are lean fish with very delicate flesh and only a little more than 123 calories per 100 grams. Among many appreciated Italian dishes are red mullets Livorno-style, a typical Tuscan second course, and there are many other recipes, such as the Cagliari-style with an herb-based seasoning. You certainly won’t find two identical Lampedusa-style red mullet ragùs, although this dish is very similar to Palermo-style pasta with sardines. In fact they are quite alike, and it’s said that on Lampedusa when sardines are scarce they make this dish with red mullets. Calling it delicious is an understatement; to be sure, I invite you to try it.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Budget
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn
- Energy 347.21 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 24.21 (g) of which sugars 2.34 (g)
- Proteins 17.99 (g)
- Fat 20.20 (g) of which saturated 3.12 (g)of which unsaturated 3.78 (g)
- Fibers 2.33 (g)
- Sodium 1,988.85 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 220 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients needed to prepare the spaghetti with red mullet ragù
- 9 oz red mullets
- 3.5 oz spaghetti
- 1 oz wild fennel (fennel fronds)
- 3 tbsp fresh bread crumb (from fresh bread)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp capers (in salt)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tsp salt
Useful tools to prepare the spaghetti
- Frying pan
- Skillet
- Tongs
Steps to prepare the spaghetti
First, rinse the red mullets well under running water. With kitchen scissors, remove the fins, head and guts. Scale them by scraping from the tail toward the head. With a sharp knife, from tail to head, make a long cut along the back to gently detach the backbone. Of course, remove any remaining bones with fish tweezers. Now turn the mullet over and carefully repeat the operation on the other side. I know some fishmongers already sell fillets, even of red mullet, either pre-boned or they will bone them for you on request.
While my trusted local fishmonger cleans the mullets for me, I toast the bread crumb in a pan without adding anything. Ideally use fresh crumb, but if you can’t find it you can make it yourself by pulsing fresh durum wheat bread crumb in a food processor, which is more compact.
Let it brown, but beware: only for a few minutes, otherwise you risk burning it.
In the pan put the garlic cut in half, two or three pieces of chili pepper with the oil and a few stalks of wild fennel.
Add the capers rinsed of their preserving salt and the wild fennel blanched for 3 minutes and chopped.
Brown everything over low heat, add the pine nuts and the tomato paste dissolved in half a glass of hot water.
Now add the mullet cut into pieces and cook for another 5 minutes.
Cook the spaghetti al dente in plenty of salted water and toss them in the pan with the red mullet ragù together with half of the toasted bread crumb.
Toss for a few more seconds and serve the Lampedusa-style spaghetti and mullet with the remaining toasted crumb.
If you like, you can add a few fresh parsley leaves.
I didn’t use raisins in this recipe, but if you want they work very well.
Tips
I would like to give you a tip on how to prepare the red mullet cutlets with lemon
https://blog.giallozafferano.it/vaipinacucina/ricetta-cotolette-di-triglie-al-limone/
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
How do you recognize mud red mullet versus rock red mullet?
The mud-dwelling red mullet is small and measures around 4–8 inches, while the rock-dwelling red mullet is larger and exceeds about 8 inches.
Why are they called mud red mullet or rock red mullet? What is the difference?
The mud red mullet lives on sandy or muddy bottoms, hence the name. The rock red mullet, on the other hand, lives on rocky or gravelly bottoms at shallow depths.
