Recipe: Fish Sauce for Pasta

Fish Sauce for Pasta (Ragu' di pesce)
The most suitable fish for this ragu' is octopus, squid, cuttlefish, prawns, clams and any fish with a firm flesh. This sauce is best used with medium spaghetti or linguine.

2/3 lb. ripe tomatoes
1 oz. parsley
1 lb. fish
1/2 cup olive oil
1 small onion
1/2 oz. dried mushrooms
1 small carrot
1/2 glass dry white wine
1 small celery stalk
salt
1 garlic clove
pepper

Peel the tomatoes, remove seeds and chop in small pieces. Clean the fish carefully and cut in strips or small pieces. Prepare a battuto with onion, carrot, celery, garlic and parsley. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the
battuto and mushrooms. Let brown over a medium heat, until the vegetables begin to get tender. Add the wine.

When the wine has evaporated, add the tomatoes, the rest of the ingrediente and let cook over a very low heatfor about 40 minutes.

Add the fish and cook till done (time varies according to fish used). Stir occasionally, adding spoonfuls of water if the sauce becomes too dry.