# **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde (Pasta with Fennel and Sardines): A Sicilian Seafood Delight**
Sicily, an island with a rich culinary history, is known for its unique and flavorful dishes that blend diverse ingredients. Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde, a traditional Sicilian pasta dish, is a true testament to this culinary heritage. Featuring the harmonious combination of fresh sardines, aromatic fennel, sweet raisins, and crunchy pine nuts, this dish offers a delightful balance of flavors, textures, and colors.
- **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde:** The classic recipe combines fresh sardines, fennel, raisins, pine nuts, onions, tomatoes, and flavorful broth in a delectable pasta dish.
- **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde alla Palermitana:** This Palermo-style variation adds a touch of mint and grated orange zest, enhancing the flavors with a refreshing and zesty twist.
- **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde con Bottarga:** In this version, the addition of grated bottarga (dried mullet roe) elevates the dish with its intense and savory umami flavor.
- **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde con Pesto Trapanese:** This Trapani-inspired recipe incorporates the vibrant Sicilian pesto, made with fresh basil, almonds, and tomatoes, adding a herbaceous and nutty dimension to the pasta.
- **Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde al Forno:** A baked version of the pasta, where the ingredients are layered and baked in the oven, resulting in a comforting and flavorful casserole.
Whether you prefer the classic recipe or explore the creative variations, Pasta con Finocchio e Sarde is a captivating dish that embodies the essence of Sicilian cuisine, offering a symphony of flavors and a taste of the island's culinary traditions.
PASTA WITH SARDINES AND FENNEL
This traditional Sicilian dish makes a festive main course, especially when served from a giant platter. Sweet and savory flavors mingle beautifully here, with currants, raisins, saffron and pine nuts. Aromatic wild fennel fronds and fresh sardines are preferred, but even if made with cultivated fennel and canned sardines, this is a magnificent dish.
Provided by David Tanis
Categories pastas, main course
Time 1h
Yield 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 21
Steps:
- In a small skillet, toast bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons olive oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.
- Simmer the fennel fronds in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and spread out on a platter to cool. Do not discard cooking water. When fronds are cool, chop finely with a large knife (or pulse in a food processor with a little of the cooking water).
- Put raisins and currants in a bowl and cover with the white wine and 1/2 cup hot fennel-cooking water. Add crumbled saffron and let ingredients steep together for 10 minutes.
- In a large skillet, stew the onions and diced fennel in 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add anchovies, ground fennel and coriander seeds, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in reserved fennel fronds. Add the raisin mixture and its liquid and bring to a simmer.
- Season the fresh sardine fillets with salt and pepper and lay them on top of the onion mixture. Put a lid on the pan and turn off the heat for about 5 minutes, so sardines cook through and are just done. Stir to distribute chunks of fish throughout mixture. (If using canned sardines, skip this step and simply stir them in.)
- Boil the bucatini in the fennel cooking water (add more water to the pot if necessary). Cook until noodles are on the firm side of al dente, then drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add pasta to pan with onion-sardine mixture, sprinkle pasta lightly with salt and gently toss together, adding a little pasta water to keep everything well moistened. Taste and correct seasoning; it should be well seasoned.
- Transfer to a large platter or wide pasta bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, pine nuts and parsley. Garnish with lemon wedges. Add a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 674, UnsaturatedFat 11 grams, Carbohydrate 101 grams, Fat 15 grams, Fiber 8 grams, Protein 32 grams, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 846 milligrams, Sugar 24 grams
PASTA CON SARDE (PASTA WITH SARDINES)
This dish is super fast and easy, made from a recipe that has been passed down from relatives in Italy. The leftovers taste great cold, too!
Provided by Mama Adg
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian
Time 25m
Yield 4
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti, and cook until al dente, or 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, cover and keep warm.
- Place another 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet, and heat over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook just until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sardines, and cook 1 minute more. Stir in the bread crumbs and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. If necessary to give the mixture a crumbly texture, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Stir in the parsley and pepper, and remove from the heat. If desired, serve with additional Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1045.6 calories, Carbohydrate 106.5 g, Cholesterol 86.9 mg, Fat 52.4 g, Fiber 5.4 g, Protein 35.9 g, SaturatedFat 8.4 g, Sodium 930.4 mg, Sugar 4.9 g
IANA'S PASTA CON LE SARDE
A traditional Sicilian pasta recipe with a tomato-based sauce, sardines, and fennel. Credit goes to Iana, a special lady who lived near Castello a Mare.
Provided by FredWilliams
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian
Time 45m
Yield 8
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add fennel bulb, fronds, and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add sardines with oil; stir until crumbled. Stir in raisins, pine nuts, basil, fennel seeds, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes; cook until toasted. Pour in tomatoes. Let sauce simmer.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in another pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bread crumbs and basil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Drain pasta; serve topped with the sauce, seasoned bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 467.6 calories, Carbohydrate 68.5 g, Cholesterol 45.8 mg, Fat 13.1 g, Fiber 6 g, Protein 20.7 g, SaturatedFat 2 g, Sodium 438.9 mg, Sugar 6.7 g
PASTA CON LE SARDE
When the photographer and filmmaker Robert Trachtenberg brought this recipe to The Times in 2008, he described it as "a perfectly balanced combination of sardines, fennel, currants and bread crumbs." Adapted from Gusto in Greenwich Village, this seafood pasta needs no cheese: The saltiness and bite from the sardines and the sautéed vegetables should be more than enough.
Provided by Robert Trachtenberg
Categories dinner, pastas, main course
Time 1h
Yield Serves 4
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Combine the currants, red-pepper flakes and wine in a bowl; set aside. In a small sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until golden brown. Transfer to a bowl, stir in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and set aside.
- In a heavy skillet, heat 1/2 cup olive oil over medium-low heat. When hot, add the onion, garlic, fennel bulb and fennel seeds. Season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender, about 25 minutes.
- Add the wine mixture and the sardines, breaking them into pieces with a fork. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add enough salt to the boiling water so that it tastes salty. Boil the bucatini until al dente, 6 to 8 minutes; strain. Return the pasta to the pasta pot and set over low heat. Fold in the fennel-sardine mixture. Toss in the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add 3/4 of the fennel fronds, the pine nuts, the capers and a quarter of the bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Divide pasta among plates and sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs and fennel fronds over each. Serve immediately.
PASTA CON FINOCCHIO E SARDE (PASTA WITH FENNEL AND SARDINES)
When I was a little girl growing up in NY, our little Italian family was a close knit group that gathered every weekend for fun family times and, of course, FOOD! Although seldom on the menu, this remains one of my favorite dishes. After some searching to enjoy these savory-sweet flavors again, I found this on Italicious.wordpress.com. Mangia!
Provided by Glori-B
Categories One Dish Meal
Time 30m
Yield 4 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Fill a large pot with water for the pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- While water is heating -- Heat oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat and add the whole cloves of garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle add the fennel, sauté for a few minutes until they start to cook. Add the raisins and the pine nuts and simmer until the water for the pasta is boiling.
- In the meantime, toast your breadcrumbs in a small heavy bottomed skillet. I usually keep old Italian bread in the freezer and chop it up in a blender when it has thawed. Trust me it is much more flavorful than store bought breadcrumbs. Keep an eye on the breadcrumbs; they usually toast quickly.
- Once the water starts to boil for the pasta add salt to the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. You should add the sardines to the pan with the fennel at this point.
- When the pasta is perfectly al dente, add a cup of the pasta water to the fennel sauce, turn up the heat on the sauce. Drain the pasta. Without shaking all of the water out of the colander pour the pasta into the pan and toss it with the sauce. This allows for the pasta to cook a little longer in the sauce and to absorb the flavor.
- Take the pan off of the heat and toss with the toasted bread crumbs and chopped fennel fronds. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 633.1, Fat 19.9, SaturatedFat 2.8, Cholesterol 37.7, Sodium 1145.8, Carbohydrate 90.7, Fiber 6.4, Sugar 8, Protein 22.7
PASTA CON SARDE
Steps:
- In large skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden. Add anchovies and cook, stirring, over low heat until melted. Add fennel, nuts, raisins and sardines and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until heated through. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the percatelli until al dente. Drain. Transfer to a serving bowl, add sardine mixture and bread crumbs and toss to combine.
PASTA CON LE SARDE (SICILIAN PASTA WITH SARDINES) RECIPE
A classic pasta from Palermo in Siciliy, pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines) is unlike just about any other Italian pasta dish. Heavily influenced by the cooking of Arabs that ruled Sicily more than a thousand years ago, it features long bucatini or spaghetti in a slick, luscious, and fragrant sauce made from onions, fennel, raisins, pine nuts, anchovies, sardines, and saffron. Instead of cheese, toasted and seasoned bread crumbs grace the plate.
Provided by Daniel Gritzer
Categories Mains Quick Dinners
Time 35m
Yield 4
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Mince half the fennel fronds and reserve the other half whole.
- Add pine nuts and sardines and cook, stirring, until sardines are just barely cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente, then drain, reserving at least 1 cup pasta cooking water.
- Transfer pasta to skillet along with 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Return skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring and tossing, until pasta is well coated in sauce and any excess liquid has cooked off. Drizzle on some fresh olive oil (don't be shy) along with the minced fennel fronds, and toss well. Season with salt. Add a very small handful of bread crumbs and toss once more.
- If at any point the pasta becomes too dry, add additional pasta cooking water in 1/4-cup increments, and toss to loosen and moisten (you can also drizzle on more olive oil as desired). The noodles should be slick and glossy with a sheen of sauce, but not sitting in a watery puddle.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 749 kcal, Carbohydrate 59 g, Cholesterol 146 mg, Fiber 6 g, Protein 38 g, SaturatedFat 6 g, Sodium 720 mg, Sugar 13 g, Fat 40 g, ServingSize Serves 4, UnsaturatedFat 0 g
PASTA WITH FENNEL, SARDINES, AND PINE NUTS
Sardines in a pine-nut-and-fennel sauce add complex flavors and protein to this easy pasta dish.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Ingredients Seafood Recipes
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions, about 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine oil and pine nuts in a large saute pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until nuts are lightly toasted, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add onion, sliced fennel, garlic, and salt to pan; season with pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and light golden, 9 to 10 minutes. Add sardines; stir in lemon zest and juice. Chop reserved fennel fronds; stir into mixture.
- Drain pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to mixture in pan along with enough cooking water to coat; toss to combine. Divide among four serving plates; grate lemon zest over each. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 571 g, Cholesterol 20 g, Fat 17 g, Fiber 13 g, Protein 28 g, Sodium 548 g
CHEF JOHN'S PASTA CON LE SARDE
I'm no survivalist, but like any responsible chef I like to have a few cans of sardines stocked away, just in case. If times ever get tough, I could survive for hours, maybe days on them; but since things are going pretty well, I decided to dust off a can, and show you my version of Sicily's famous pasta con le sarde. You can substitute thick spaghetti for the bucatini, if desired.
Provided by Chef John
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian
Time 1h
Yield 4
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- Cook and stir bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until bread crumbs are crispy and toasted, 2 to 5 minutes. Transfer breadcrumbs to a bowl to cool.
- Grind saffron threads with a mortar and pestle; pour white wine into mortar and stir to combine.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook bucatini in boiling water, stirring occasionally until almost cooked through but firm to the bite, 10 to 11 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Heat remaining olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and fennel with a pinch of salt in hot oil until onion is soft, about 10 minutes.
- Stir raisins, garlic, and anchovy fillet into onion mixture; cook and stir until heated through, about 1 minute.
- Pour saffron-wine into skillet; cook until wine is almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Pour 1 ladleful reserved pasta water into skillet and bring to a simmer. Stir pine nuts and red pepper flakes into sauce; simmer until flavors combine and sauce is reduced, about 5 minutes.
- Stir bucatini and sardines into wine mixture; increase heat to high, and cook, stirring frequently and adding more reserved pasta water as necessary, until sauce and pasta are heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and top with fennel fronds and toasted bread crumbs.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 708.8 calories, Carbohydrate 72.2 g, Cholesterol 81.4 mg, Fat 33.3 g, Fiber 4.6 g, Protein 27.5 g, SaturatedFat 4.8 g, Sodium 531.8 mg, Sugar 8.9 g
Tips:
- Choose fresh sardines: The fresher the sardines, the better the flavor of the dish will be. Look for sardines that are plump and have bright, clear eyes.
- Use a good quality fennel: The fennel is a key ingredient in this dish, so it's important to use a good quality one. Look for fennel that is fresh and has a bright, green color.
- Don't overcook the sardines: Sardines are a delicate fish, so it's important not to overcook them. Cook them just until they are opaque and flaky, about 2-3 minutes per side.
- Serve immediately: This dish is best served immediately after it is made. The sardines will start to lose their flavor if they are left to sit for too long.
Conclusion:
Pasta con finocchio e sarde is a delicious and easy-to-make dish that is perfect for a weeknight meal. The combination of fennel, sardines, and breadcrumbs creates a flavorful and complex dish that is sure to please everyone at the table. If you're looking for a new pasta dish to try, I highly recommend this one.
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