Spaghetti with sword fish

Ingredients (for 6 persons):

480 gr spaghetti or linguine
2 tspns thick salt for pasta water
2 large slices of fresh swordfish
2 garlic cloves
2 tspns capers (drained and rinsed)
18 olives (flesh only)
cherry tomatoes (sliced in halves and squeezed to remove most of the seeds)
garlic
1 chilli pepper or peperoncino flakes
homemade breadcrumbs from stale bread, roughly chopped in a blender
fennel leaves, chopped
olive oil
pepper
salt

Prep the swordfish slices by carving round the central bone and separating into two halves.  Remove all skin and bones from the fillets till only the clean flesh is left. Cut the fillets into small sized cubes.

Meanwhile bring a big pot of water (approx. 4-5 lt.) to the boil.

Slice the garlic cloves thinly and heat in a pan with olive oil and a crushed chilli pepper. Let the garlic soften slightly and then throw in the cherry tomatoes, the capers and olives. Saute on high heat till tomatoes are half cooked and then add the diced swordfish and the chopped fennel fronds.

Toss everything around in the pan on a very high heat a few times to make sure the fish is cooked overall on the outside but not overdone. If overcooked, swordfish tends to become hard, meaty and tasteless. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Taste before seasoning as the olives and capers may have done the job for you already.

By now the water should be boiling so add 2 large table spoons of thick salt to the boiling water and then the pasta. Keep the fire high. After recommended al dente cooking time strain the pasta immediately and throw it into the fish sauce. Toss about vigorously a bit for the everything to blend and soak into the spaghetti. Eventually add a touch more of olive oil.

Remove from the fire and empty onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, decorate with more fennel leaves (or basil) and serve. Buon appetito!