Can I Use A Substitute For Marsala For the Pasta With Mackerel, Marsala And Pine Nuts?

Our answer

NIgella's Pasta With Mackerel, Marsala & Pine Nuts (from NIGELLISSIMA) is Nigella's British version of a Sicilian dish made with sardines. Marsala comes from Sicily, so is in keeping with the "Britalian" theme of the recipe.

Marsala is a fortified wine and keeps well after opening, so is a useful ingredient to keep in the kitchen, as you can use it to add flavour to stews, gravies and some soups. It comes in dry and sweet form and for savoury cooking the dry version is preferable. If you don't have any marsala then madeira is the closest alternative, or you can use a dry, nutty sherry such as an oloroso. Otherwise a splash of wine (white, rose or red) could also be used as a substitute. If you need to make the dish alcohol-free then we would suggest using fish or vegetable stock, but try and use a low salt version as smoked mackerel is quite salty and you will be adding some of the salted pasta cooking water to the dish as well.