So, I still am "studying" so I just thought I'd post another one of these pasta recipes that make me a much happier studier! I just love pasta because you can literally put anything on them that you like (at least I can  since I'm not Italian).
So we are now in the last weeks of the season of this wonderful spring vegetable that you can pretty much only find in Italy, called "barba di frate", or monks beard in English. The veggie grows on the sandy and salty grounds of the coasts of the centre of Italy, mainly Tuscany (the one I just ate came from Emilia Romagna, though). It's perfect for salads, to accompany fish and meat or to mix with spaghetti, since they are long, chive-like grassy things, with a mild, earthy and slightly salty flavour.
My pasta is a bit of most of these things, made with onions, garlic, semi-dried tomatoes, (dried, since they're really not in season now!), chillies (also dried) and sardines (canned ones). I used wholewheat spaghetti, since I started to feel bad about eating pasta due to recent easter weight gain. But feel free to take whatever sort or thickness of spaghetti/linguini you enjoy most. The recipe is for 2 normal eaters, or one good one (I could have eaten it all, but yeay, I didn't!).
Bring a large pot of water to cook, salt and put in the spaghetti (i took about 180 grams. I am not sure, though, since I cook according to my eye measure). When there are three minutes of cooking time left, put in the washed barba di frate (cut off all the roots and tougher parts!). Drain pasta and beard.
Meanwhile cut a medium sized onion (red onion looks pretty!), a clove of garlic and one or two chillies. Heat a large frying pan, put olive oil in it, add the onions and fry until they become slightly seethrough and shiny. Then add the garlic and the chili. After a few seconds add some white whine and let simmer for a bit. cut two filets of sardines and a handful of capers and add them to the onions. Then add the pasta and beard mixture (keep a bit of the cooking water and add that too!) and stir until well mixed. Done and delicious!