Pasta con le sarde

I can provide you with a traditional Italian recipe for Pasta con le sarde. This typical Sicilian dish is a perfect balance of flavors that combines the taste of the sea with land-based ingredients.

Ingredients

• 400g of bucatini or spaghetti
• 400g of fresh sardines, cleaned and deboned
• 1 wild fennel (or alternatively fennel seeds if not available)
• 30g of raisins
• 30g of pine nuts
• 1 onion
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil
• Saffron (a sachet or a pinch if in strands)
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste (optional)
• 1 pinch of sugar (optional)

Preparation

1. If you are using fresh wild fennel, boil it in a pot of water until soft. Reserve the cooking water to cook the pasta.
2. If you’re using fennel seeds, lightly toast them in a pan without adding oils or other fats.
3. In a large pan, sauté the finely chopped onion with extra virgin olive oil and add the anchovies until they dissolve.
4. Add the cleaned and chopped sardines and sauté for a few minutes.
5. Then add the raisins and pine nuts, and let cook for about 10 minutes. Add the saffron dissolved in a bit of the fennel cooking water (or warm water if using fennel seeds).
6. Cook the pasta in the fennel-flavored water (or in regular salted water if using fennel seeds) following the package instructions for al dente.
7. Drain the pasta and add it to the sardine sauce, tossing everything together in the pan to blend the flavors.
8. Serve hot, with a drizzle of raw oil if desired.

Curiosity

Pasta con le sarde is a dish that you can find in different variations depending on the place of preparation in Sicily. Sometimes, it is enriched with fresh tomato or tomato paste. Additionally, the use of sugar is a local tradition to balance the slightly bitter taste of the wild fennel and the saltiness of the anchovies.

I hope this recipe will take you on a journey of flavors through Sicily! If you need suggestions on wines to pair with it or variations on the theme, do not hesitate to ask me.