The Castruriali Table · Ricette siciliane

Sicilian Recipespoured in green gold.

30 authentic recipes from every corner of Sicily, from Palermo’s street food to Messina’s swordfish and Catania’s pasta alla Norma: tested methods, real quantities and the story behind each dish.

Find a recipe Start with the classics

Sicilian cooking in brief

Sicilian cooking is the food of an island that Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards all ruled, and each left something on the table. Durum wheat, olives and wine came early; citrus, sugar, rice and the taste for saffron, raisins and pine nuts are usually traced to the Arab centuries; tomatoes and peppers arrived from the Americas under Spanish rule. The result is cooking built on extra virgin olive oil, fish from three seas, vegetables, sheep’s-milk cheese and a love of agrodolce, sweet and sour together.

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The Sicilian classics

Street food · PalermoArancine al ragùArancine are Sicily’s best-known street food: saffron rice shaped around a filling of slow-cooked meat ragù, peas and caciocavallo, coated in breadcrumbs and fried until deep gold.Street food · PalermoPanellePanelle are thin chickpea-flour fritters from Palermo, fried until puffed and crisp and eaten in a sesame roll with lemon: pane e panelle.Street food · PalermoSfincione palermitanoSfincione is Palermo’s thick, spongy focaccia, topped with a sweet onion and tomato sauce, anchovies, caciocavallo, oregano and toasted breadcrumbs.Street food · TrapaniPane cunzatuPane cunzatu means “dressed bread”: warm Sicilian bread split and soaked with extra virgin olive oil, then layered with tomato, anchovy, cheese and oregano.To begin · PalermoCaponataCaponata is Sicily’s sweet-and-sour aubergine stew: fried aubergine with celery, onion, tomato, green olives and capers, finished with vinegar and sugar and served at room temperature.Salads, sides & sauces · MessinaSalmoriglioSalmoriglio is a Sicilian sauce of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano and parsley, whisked with a little hot water until it emulsifies, and spooned over grilled swordfish, fish or meat.Pasta & soups · CataniaPasta alla NormaPasta alla Norma is Catania’s best-known pasta: a fresh tomato and basil sauce with fried aubergine, finished with grated ricotta salata.Pasta & soups · PalermoPasta con le sardePasta 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.Pasta & soups · TrapaniPesto alla trapanesePesto alla trapanese is a raw Sicilian sauce from Trapani made by pounding ripe tomatoes, almonds, basil, garlic, pecorino and extra virgin olive oil, traditionally served with twisted busiate pasta.Mains · All SicilyParmigiana di melanzaneParmigiana di melanzane is layers of fried aubergine, tomato sauce, basil and cheese baked until bubbling, a dish claimed by both Sicily and Naples.Mains · PalermoSarde a beccaficoSarde a beccafico are butterflied sardines stuffed with toasted breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins, parsley and orange, rolled up with bay leaves and baked.Sweet · PalermoCannoli sicilianiCannoli are Sicily’s most famous pastry: crisp, blistered fried shells filled at the last minute with sweetened sheep’s-milk ricotta, chocolate and candied orange.

30 recipes

Street food

Cibo di strada

Arancine al ragùInvolvedSaffron rice balls filled with meat ragù and caciocavalloPalermo2 hr 30 min + restingOpen recipe PanelleEasyPalermo chickpea frittersPalermo40 min + restingVeganOpen recipe CrocchèCrocchè di patateEasyPalermo potato croquettes with parsleyPalermo1 hr 5 min + restingVeganOpen recipe Sfincione palermitanoMediumPalermo’s thick, soft focaccia with onion, tomato, anchovy and caciocavalloPalermo1 hr 10 min + restingOpen recipe Pane cunzatuPane conditoEasy“Dressed bread” with olive oil, tomato, anchovy and cheeseTrapani15 minOpen recipe

To begin

Antipasti

CaponataCaponata di melanzaneEasySweet-and-sour aubergine with celery, olives and capersPalermo1 hr 5 min + restingVeganOpen recipe Olive cunzateOlive conditeEasySicilian seasoned green olives with garlic, celery, chilli and herbsTrapani15 min + restingVeganOpen recipe Bruschetta all’olio nuovoEasyGrilled bread, garlic and the first oil of the harvestAll Sicily10 minVeganOpen recipe

Pasta & soups

Primi

Pasta alla NormaEasyPasta with fried aubergine, tomato, basil and ricotta salataCatania55 min + restingVegetarianOpen recipe Pasta con le sardeMediumBucatini with fresh sardines, wild fennel, saffron, pine nuts and raisinsPalermo1 hr 5 minOpen recipe Pesto alla trapaneseBusiate al pesto alla trapaneseEasyRaw tomato, almond, basil and garlic pesto with busiateTrapani32 minVegetarianOpen recipe Pasta ca’ muddicaPasta con la mollicaEasySpaghetti with anchovy and toasted breadcrumbsAll Sicily25 minOpen recipe Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncinoEasySpaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilliAll Sicily20 minVeganOpen recipe Pasta ’ncasciataPasta ’ncasciata alla messineseMediumMessina baked pasta with ragù, aubergine, salami, egg and caciocavalloMessina2 hr 20 min + restingOpen recipe Pasta con i broccoli arriminatiEasyPasta with cauliflower, anchovy, saffron, pine nuts and raisinsPalermo50 minOpen recipe Maccu di faveEasyDried broad bean purée with wild fennelAll Sicily2 hr 10 minVeganOpen recipe

Mains

Secondi

Parmigiana di melanzaneMediumBaked layers of fried aubergine, tomato, basil and cheeseAll Sicily1 hr 50 min + restingVegetarianOpen recipe Sarde a beccaficoMediumSardines rolled around breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins and orangePalermo1 hrOpen recipe Involtini di pesce spadaInvoltini di pesce spada alla messineseMediumSwordfish rolls with breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins and pecorinoMessina42 minOpen recipe Pesce spada alla ghiottaEasySwordfish braised with tomato, olives, capers and celeryMessina45 minOpen recipe Tonno in agrodolceTonno alla cipollataEasyTuna with sweet-and-sour onions and mintTrapani45 minOpen recipe Pesce all’acqua pazzaEasyWhite fish poached in “crazy water” with tomato and garlicAll Sicily30 minOpen recipe

Salads, sides & sauces

Contorni & salse

Insalata di aranceInsalata di arance e finocchiEasyBlood orange, fennel and olive saladAll Sicily15 minVeganOpen recipe Insalata pantescaEasyPantelleria potato, tomato, caper and olive saladTrapani35 minVeganOpen recipe Carciofi arrostitiEasyArtichokes roasted with garlic, parsley and olive oilAll Sicily1 hr 5 minVeganOpen recipe FritteddaFrittedda palermitanaEasySpring braise of artichokes, broad beans and peasPalermo55 minVeganOpen recipe SalmoriglioEasySicilian olive oil, lemon and oregano sauceMessina15 minVeganOpen recipe

Sweet

Dolci

Cannoli sicilianiInvolvedCrisp fried pastry tubes filled with sweetened sheep’s ricottaPalermo1 hr 20 min + restingVegetarianOpen recipe Torta all’olio e aranciaTorta all’olio d’oliva e aranciaEasyOlive oil and orange cakeAll Sicily1 hrVegetarianOpen recipe Ricotta, miele e olioRicotta con miele e olioEasyFresh ricotta with honey, olive oil and black pepperAll Sicily5 minVegetarianOpen recipe

Recipes by province

Around the island

Palermo

Street food, agrodolce and Arab-era spice

Catania

Etna, aubergines and ricotta salata

Pasta alla Norma

Messina

Swordfish, the Strait and home of Castruriali

Trapani

Tuna, almonds, salt and couscous

All over Sicily

Dishes cooked all over the island

The Sicilian pantry

What a Sicilian kitchen keeps

Extra virgin olive oil: The fat of Sicilian cooking: for frying, for sauces and, above all, poured raw over almost everything at the end.
Caciocavallo: A stretched-curd cow’s-milk cheese shaped like a gourd, mild when young and sharp when aged. Ragusano DOP is the great Sicilian one.
Pecorino and ricotta salata: Sheep’s-milk cheeses. Pecorino Siciliano DOP is aged and grated; ricotta salata is pressed, salted ricotta for crumbling over pasta.
Sheep’s-milk ricotta: Fresh, sweet and rich: the filling for cannoli and cassata, and eaten warm for breakfast.
Capers: Packed in salt rather than vinegar, from Pantelleria (IGP) and the Aeolian island of Salina. Rinse and soak before use.
Muddica atturrata: Toasted breadcrumbs, used instead of cheese on fish and vegetable pasta.
Wild fennel: Finocchietto selvatico grows on every Sicilian hillside in spring and flavours pasta con le sarde and maccu.
Almonds and pistachios: Avola almonds from the south-east and pistachios from Bronte on the slopes of Etna, used in pesto, pastry and sweets.
Saffron, raisins and pine nuts: The sweet-spiced trio found in Palermo cooking, often traced to the island’s Arab centuries.
Estratto: Sun-dried tomato concentrate, darker and more intense than tomato purée, used to deepen sauces and ragù.
Oregano: Sicilian dried oregano, sold on the stem, is strongly aromatic. Rub it between your palms as you add it.
Agrodolce: Not an ingredient but a balance: vinegar and sugar together, the sweet-and-sour note in caponata and tuna with onions.

A bottle of Castruriali extra virgin olive oil standing in a sunlit Sicilian field

The one ingredient

Every dish begins with a single pour.

Extra virgin olive oil is the thread through every recipe here: for frying, for sauces and above all poured raw at the end. Ours is 100% Sicilian, grown in the hills of Salemi and made in Castroreale, with the peppery finish of an early harvest.

— In the kitchen

Cooked in Castroreale.

Chef Enzo Oliveri cooks with Castruriali in the hills where it is made.

Enzo Oliveri

The Sicilian Chef · Castruriali Chef & Ambassador

“You can taste the hillside in it — green, peppery, alive. I finish a plate with Castruriali the way my grandmother did: raw, generous, at the very last moment.”

Signature dish

Swordfish with Pistachio BreadcrumbsPesce spada con pangrattato al pistacchio & Castruriali EVOO

Seared Sicilian swordfish in a crust of Bronte pistachio and toasted crumb, finished with a raw pour of Castruriali for grassy lift.

Meet Chef Enzo →

Questions

Sicilian food, answered

What is the most famous Sicilian dish?

Arancine (or arancini), fried saffron rice balls, are the best-known Sicilian food around the world, along with cannoli, caponata and pasta alla Norma.

What makes Sicilian cooking different from the rest of Italy?

Sicily was ruled by Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards, and each left something in the kitchen. Sicilian food uses more sweet-and-sour, more fish, more almonds, citrus, saffron and raisins than the rest of Italy, and treats extra virgin olive oil as an everyday staple.

What do Sicilians cook with?

Extra virgin olive oil above all, with sheep’s-milk cheeses, durum wheat pasta and bread, tomatoes, aubergines, citrus, capers, almonds, pistachios and the fish of the surrounding seas.

Is it arancini or arancine?

Both are right. Palermo and western Sicily say arancina (plural arancine) and make them round; Catania and the east say arancino (plural arancini) and often make them cone-shaped.

Are Sicilian recipes vegetarian-friendly?

Many are. Caponata, panelle, pasta alla Norma, parmigiana, maccu and most salads are vegetarian, and several are vegan. Use the filters above to find them.

Which olive oil should I use for Sicilian recipes?

A fresh, peppery Sicilian extra virgin olive oil for anything raw: salads, salmoriglio, finishing pasta and soups. For deep-frying, many cooks use a lighter olive oil and keep their best bottle for the table.

From our table to yours

Bread, salt, a little cheese — and a generous pour of green gold.

A Sicilian table: sourdough, sea salt, grated cheese, herbs and Castruriali olive oil on a live-edge board

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A purchase with purpose

Cook with oil that gives back.

Every bottle you pour into these dishes helps us reclaim abandoned Sicilian groves and protect rare native varieties.

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Cook with itOlio extravergine di oliva Castruriali

The oil in every recipeProdotto a Castroreale, in Sicilia

Sicilian extra virgin olive oil from the 2024/2025 Early harvest, with the peppery finish of a fresh, high-polyphenol oil. Great Taste 2025.Olio extravergine da olive coltivate sulle colline di Salemi, in provincia di Trapani, prodotto e imbottigliato a mano a Castroreale. Raccolta precoce 2024/2025: Great Taste 2025, 410 mg/kg di polifenoli, analizzati da un laboratorio indipendente.

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