Pasta con le sarde
Pasta con le sarde is Palermo’s signature pasta: bucatini with fresh sardines, wild fennel, onion, saffron, pine nuts, raisins and anchovy, topped with toasted breadcrumbs.
CKContributed by The Castruriali Kitchen · CastrorealeSee all their recipes →Ingredients
- 400 gbucatini
- 400 gfresh sardines, cleaned and filleted (from about 600 g whole)
- 250 gwild fennel fronds (or the fronds of 2 fennel bulbs plus a small bunch of dill)
- 6 tbspCastruriali extra virgin olive oilOlive oil carries the whole sauce and a spoonful toasts the breadcrumbs.
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 anchovy fillets in oil
- 30 graisins or sultanas, soaked in warm water
- 30 gpine nuts
- 0.2 gsaffron, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
- 60 gdried breadcrumbs
- salt and black pepper
Method
Cook the fennel. Boil the fennel in a large pan of salted water for 10 minutes. Lift it out, squeeze dry and chop. Keep the water: you will cook the pasta in it.
Toast the breadcrumbs. Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring, until golden. Set aside.
Make the sauce. Warm the remaining oil in a wide pan and cook the onion gently for 8 minutes. Add the anchovies and stir until they melt. Add the drained raisins, pine nuts, saffron with its water and the chopped fennel and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the sardines. Add the sardine fillets and cook for 5 minutes, breaking them up gently with a wooden spoon. Season and add a ladle of the fennel water.
Cook the pasta. Bring the fennel water back to the boil and cook the bucatini until al dente. Drain, keeping a cup of water and toss with the sauce, loosening as needed.
Serve. Serve topped with the toasted breadcrumbs. No cheese.