The Project 333 larder saves the day – again

Spring has finally sprung here in the Limousin. There’s always a turning point in March when the sun actually feels warm on your skin, the birds are singing and a few tiny spring flowers appear on the roadside verge. We’ve been waiting for a day like this for a few weeks, and have finally been rewarded. There’s a lot of work to do in the ‘new’ garden now that the fencing is finished. Raking the soil, picking up hundreds of stones that have found their way to the surface and digging out the odd root. All things that need to be done before we can sow grass seed in a few weeks.

The problem (and advantage) of working from home, and being self-employed, is that I often work through the weekend. Sometimes I lose track of time altogether and get the days a bit mixed-up. However, I do get to take a time off whenever I want to, so Monday I spent the morning writing posts for my business blog, but later I also managed a couple of hours in the garden. Unfortunately we were both so busy (and exhausted) that neither of us remembered to go shopping. There’s no 24-hour shopping in rural France, or Sunday opening, and Mondays can be a bit hit-and-miss too. So when it came to supper…the pizza shack? No, it’s Monday…the Italian place?...No, it’s Monday.

Time to look in the store cupboard for inspiration. Now, the store cupboard is in state of flux at the moment. A couple of times a year I like to go through a re-stocking process, eating all the food in the cupboard and the freezer, and then replenishing supplies. The end of winter is an ideal time, now that the risk of being snowed in has passed. Typically Monday coincided with an empty fridge and no real menu plan. OH didn’t fancy the jar of Mitonné d’Agneau, and as the use-by date is 4/17 it’s likely to have a reprieve for another year. It will have to be a pretty dire emergency before that jar is opened.

Despite the low stocks I was able to put together half a dozen propositions, ranging from several versions of risotto, a mushroom stroganoff and various pastas. We opted for pasta. This seemed like an ideal opportunity to use up a tin of sardines from our pre-vegetarian days. We’re not so strictly vegetarian as to allow food to go to waste, and to be honest I do occasionally include some fish in our diet. Added to the sardines I found a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil lurking in the back of the cupboard, and there were some basics that needed using up in the fridge: black olives, capers, tomato puree and garlic.

In ten minutes I’d rustled up a quick sauce whilst the pasta was boiling. Simply heat some olive oil, add a couple of crushed garlic cloves and cook until golden. Then add the sardines straight from the tin, breaking them up a little with a wooden spoon and then add the rest of the ingredients, stirring as each is added. Black olives and capers to balance with salty sardines, a good squirt or two of tomato puree, and then a dash of red wine. Always a good excuse to open a bottle! Keep stirring as the sauce thickens and comes together, check the seasoning and add a few twists of black pepper, there should be enough salt from the sardines. By this time the pasta should be cooked, so drain and stir into the sauce. Bon appetite!