Pasta con sarde is a traditional Sicilian dish that combines the flavors of fresh sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, and raisins. It's a symphony of flavors and textures that showcases the bounty of the Mediterranean. This article offers three variations of this classic recipe: the traditional pasta con sarde, a simplified version for busy weeknights, and a vegetarian take on the dish. Each recipe includes step-by-step instructions, ingredient lists, and cooking tips to ensure a delicious and authentic pasta con sarde experience. Whether you're a seasoned home cook or just starting out, these recipes will guide you in creating a flavorful and memorable meal that captures the essence of Sicilian cuisine.
Here are our top 7 tried and tested recipes!
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
SICILIAN-STYLE SARDINE PASTA WITH BREAD CRUMBS
Provided by Rachael Ray : Food Network
Categories main-dish
Time 22m
Yield 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- To a large skillet preheated over medium heat, add 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 4 turns of the pan, and chopped garlic. When the garlic speaks by sizzling in oil add bread crumbs. Stir bread crumbs until deeply golden in color. Add parsley and a liberal amount of salt and pepper, about 1 teaspoon of each. Transfer bread crumbs to a dish and reserve.
- Return skillet to heat and add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan. Add sardines and red pepper flakes to the pan and saute over medium heat 2 or 3 minutes. Add hot, cooked pasta to the skillet and toss with sardines. Add bread crumbs to the pot and toss thoroughly to combine and evenly distribute the mixture. Taste, to adjust seasonings, and serve.
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
PASTA WITH SARDINES, BREAD CRUMBS AND CAPERS
This quick and easy version of the classic Sicilian pasta dish comes together in about 20 minutes with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge. You can pick up anything you're missing at the corner deli.
Provided by Mark Bittman
Categories dinner, easy, lunch, quick, weekday, pastas, appetizer, main course
Time 20m
Yield 4 to 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put half the oil (2 tablespoons) in a medium skillet over medium heat. When it's hot, add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, less than 5 minutes, and then remove. Add the remaining oil and the onion to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until just tender; drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Turn the heat under the onions to medium-high and add the lemon zest, capers and sardines; cook, stirring occasionally, until just heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Add the pasta to the sardine mixture and toss well to combine. Add the parsley, most of the bread crumbs and some reserved water, if necessary, to moisten. Taste and adjust seasoning, garnishing with more parsley and bread crumbs.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 485, UnsaturatedFat 12 grams, Carbohydrate 65 grams, Fat 15 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Protein 21 grams, SaturatedFat 2 grams, Sodium 363 milligrams, Sugar 3 grams
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 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.
Tips:
- To make the most of the sardines' flavor, use fresh, high-quality fish.
- When cleaning the sardines, be sure to remove the heads, tails, and guts. You can also remove the bones if desired.
- Soak the raisins in warm water for 30 minutes before using them. This will help to plump them up and make them more flavorful.
- Use a good quality olive oil for the best flavor.
- Don't be afraid to adjust the amount of salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve the pasta con sarde immediately, while it is still hot.
Conclusion:
Pasta con sarde is a delicious and easy-to-make dish that is perfect for a quick and easy meal. The combination of sardines, raisins, and pine nuts creates a unique and flavorful sauce that is sure to please everyone at the table. So next time you're looking for a new pasta dish to try, give pasta con sarde a try. You won't be disappointed.
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