Pasta con le Sarde (Sicilian Sardine and Wild Fennel Pasta)

Pasta con le sarde is Sicily’s signature sweet-and-savory pasta, built on fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins, and pine nuts, with saffron lending its golden color. The dish traces back to the island’s Arab-Sicilian cooking traditions.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bucatini or perciatelli pasta
• 1 large fennel bulb with fronds, or 2 cups wild fennel tops
• 1 pound fresh sardines, cleaned and filleted (or 2 cans sardines in olive oil)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 anchovy fillets
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked in 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs, toasted
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Blanch the fennel
   Boil the fennel fronds in salted water for 5 minutes, remove and chop, reserving the cooking water.
2. Sauté the aromatics
   Heat the olive oil, cook the onion until soft, then add the anchovies and mash them into the oil.
3. Build the sauce
   Add the chopped fennel, raisins, pine nuts, and saffron water, and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Cook the sardines
   Gently fold in the sardine fillets and cook 5 minutes until just opaque; set half aside for topping.
5. Cook the pasta
   Boil the pasta in the reserved fennel water until al dente, then drain, reserving some pasta water.
6. Combine
   Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding pasta water as needed to loosen.
7. Serve
   Plate with the reserved sardines on top and a sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese.