Pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines)

Name: Pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines)
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: 30 g pine nuts; 30 g raisins; 1 tin anchovy fillets; 2 tin sardines in olive oil, MSC; 1 garlic cloves; ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley; 1 red onions; 1 fennel; 2 tbsp olive oil; 50 g breadcrumbs; 300 g pasta; 1 tbsp tomato puree; 1 tsp dried oregano; ½ tsp chilli flakes; ¾ tsp salt; 12 saffron threads

main dish Italian cuisine lunch

Total: 45 min. | Active: 45 min.

lactose-free

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Pasta con le sarde is a classic of Sicilian cuisine that beautifully combines Arab and Italian influences. The original recipe calls for wild fennel – finocchietto – which has an intense fragrance and lots of greens. As this is difficult to find here in Switzerland, I use fresh fennel instead, which also lends the dish a lovely, aromatic freshness. I particularly like the combination of the sweet raisins and the salty flavour of the sardines – a typically Sicilian pairing that reveals the connection to North African cuisine. The crispy breadcrumbs on top are more than just decoration. They add depth, a slight heat, umami flavour – and of course that crunch that no one wants to miss out on. Buon appetito!

Recipe by:
Daniela Bieder – daniela CULINAIRE

Ingredients

for 4 people

Mollica
50 g	breadcrumbs
1 tbsp	olive oil
1 tbsp	tomato puree
1	garlic clove, squeezed
½ bunch	flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp	dried oregano
½ tsp	chilli flakes
¼ tsp	salt

Sauce
30 g	pine nuts
1 tbsp	olive oil
1	red onion
1	fennel, quartered, finely chopped
½ tsp	salt
1 tin	anchovy fillet (approx. 25 g), drained
12	saffron threads
3 dl	water, warm
30 g	raisins
2 tin	sardines in olive oil, MSC (each approx. 90 g), drained

Pasta
300 g	pasta (e.g. spaghetti)
	salted water, boiling

How it's done

Mollica

Place the breadcrumbs in a small bowl with all the other ingredients up to and including the salt, mix well. Toast the breadcrumbs in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat for approx. 10 mins., set aside.

Sauce

Without adding any oil, toast the pine nuts in the same pan for approx. 5 mins. until golden brown, remove and set aside. Heat the oil in the pan, add the onion and fennel. Sauté for approx. 5 mins., stirring occasionally, season with salt. Add the anchovies, cook until they fall apart. Pour the water over the saffron threads, leave to infuse briefly. Pour the saffron water over the fennel, add the raisins, simmer for approx. 15 mins. Add the sardines, simmer for approx. 10 mins. Add the pine nuts, mix.

Pasta

Cook the pasta in simmering salted water until just al dente. Drain the pasta, reserve approx. 200 ml of the cooking water, return it to the pan along with the pasta and the sauce, heat through. Serve the pasta with the mollica.

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