Sardine Pasta Recipe from Sicily

5 from 46 votes

Sardine Pasta Recipe from Sicily

Bring a taste of Sicily to your table with this traditional Sicilian sardine pasta recipe that dates back to 800 AD. This is a historical dish full of authentic Sicilian flavors that you can easily recreate in your kitchen.

Prep Time30

Cook Time27

Total Time57

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, Sicilian

Keyword: Sardine pasta, Sardines with pasta

Servings:

Calories: 726kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

14 oz pasta I used organic penne from Sicily
14 oz fresh sardines or canned
2-3 anchovy fillets
2-3 bunches wild fennel or fennel tops and fennel seeds
1 onion finely chopped
3-4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon saffron threads or powder
2 oz raisins
1 oz pine nuts
salt for pasta and to taste
ground black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soak the raisins in a bowl of warm water. In a separate small cup, soak the saffron threads or powder with 3-4 tablespoons of warm water.
Remove the lower part of the wild fennel stalks and cook in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Save the water and drain the fennel and put it into a bowl of iced water to preserve the color. After the fennel has cooled, chop it.
In a frying pan, sauté the finely chopped onion and anchovy fillets in olive oil over medium heat until the onions turn translucent and the anchovies have melted.
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add the reserved fennel water and once it starts to boil, add salt. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente, as per the package instructions.
Meanwhile, drain the soaked raisins and add them to the pan, along with the pine nuts, saffron, and chopped fennel. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the sardine fillets to the pan, stirring regularly for 3-4 minutes until the fish starts to flake. Season to taste with salt and drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Mix in the pasta to the sardine sauce and serve immediately. Optionally, you can garnish with toasted breadcrumbs.

Notes

If you have fresh sardines, you can prep them before starting the recipe. Rinse them thoroughly and eliminate the scales by rubbing the body under running water. Open the stomach and discard the entrails. Finally, pull firmly and gently on the head to separate the meat from the backbone. Rinse the fish fillets again, dry them, and place in the fridge covered until ready to cook.
The traditional pasta for this recipe is bucatini or spaghetti. However, many people use penne or other pasta tubes.I used organic Sicilian penne made with wild fennel
Many Sicilians dress this dish with toasted breadcrumbs which is a traditional addition to seafood pasta dishes instead of cheese.
You can make this dish with normal fennel tops and canned sardines if you don't have wild fennel or fresh sardines available.

Nutrition