← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 400 g bucatini or spaghetti
• 400 g fresh sardines, filleted (or 3 × 120 g tins in oil, drained)
• 1 fennel bulb with plenty of fronds (or a big bunch of wild fennel)
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil
• 30 g Raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 min
• 30 g Pine nuts
• 1 pinch Saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
• 60 ml dry white wine
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 60 g dried breadcrumbs
• Salt

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it. Chop the fennel bulb finely and drop it in with the fronds; boil for 10 min, then lift everything out with a slotted spoon and chop the fronds. Keep the green water for the pasta.
2. Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry frying pan with 1 tbsp of the oil over medium heat for 3–4 min, stirring, until golden and crisp. Tip them onto a plate.
3. Heat the rest of the oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat and soften the onion for 8 min. Add the anchovies and stir until they melt into the oil.
4. Add half the sardines, the wine, saffron with its water, drained raisins, pine nuts and the cooked fennel. Simmer for 10 min, breaking the fish into a chunky sauce and adding a splash of fennel water if it gets dry.
5. Cook the pasta in the fennel water until al dente. About 3 min before it is ready, lay the remaining sardines on top of the sauce so they cook through but stay in pieces.
6. Drain the pasta, keeping a mug of water, and toss it into the sauce with enough water to make it glossy. Serve with the toasted breadcrumbs scattered on top instead of cheese.

Tips

• Ask the fishmonger to fillet the sardines, or use good tinned ones and add them all at the end.
• Sicilians call the breadcrumbs “muddica atturrata”, the poor man’s Parmesan.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great Italian Chefs Memorie di Angelina Sip and Feast