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Italy · Sardines

Palermo Pasta with Sardines and Fennel

Pasta con le Sarde

Palermo’s most famous pasta mixes the sea and the hills: fresh sardines, wild fennel, saffron, raisins and pine nuts, topped with toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese. Sweet, salty and like nothing else.

  • Prep 30 min
  • Cook 35 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Medium
Photo: Adriao · CC BY 3.0
Served with: Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the sauce

For the pasta

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Cook the fennel. Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Chop the fennel fronds and slice the bulb thin, and boil both 8–10 minutes until tender. Scoop them out and keep the green water for the pasta.
  2. Start the sauce. In a wide skillet heat the olive oil and cook the onion 8 minutes until soft. Add the anchovies and stir until they melt.
  3. Add the sardines. Add the boiled fennel, drained raisins, pine nuts and saffron with its water and cook 3 minutes. Lay in the sardine fillets and cook 4–5 minutes, breaking about half of them up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Cook the pasta. Boil the pasta in the fennel water until al dente. Save a cup of the water and drain.
  5. Toss and serve. Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding pasta water as needed to make it glossy. Serve in bowls with the toasted breadcrumbs sprinkled thickly on top.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Sicily, Italy

Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad

Insalata di Arance e Finocchi

Juicy orange slices, crisp shaved fennel, red onion and black olives with good olive oil. Sicilians serve it with grilled and fried fish to cut the richness.

  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 0 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 3 oranges (blood oranges if you can find them)
  • 1 fennel bulb, fronds saved
  • ½ small red onion, sliced very thin
  • 12 black olives, pitted
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp flaky sea salt
  • Black pepper to taste

How to make it

  1. Peel the oranges. Cut the top and bottom off each orange, then slice away the peel and white pith with a sharp knife. Slice into rounds.
  2. Shave the fennel. Trim the fennel, cut it in half and slice it as thin as you can.
  3. Assemble. Arrange the fennel, oranges and onion on a platter. Scatter the olives, drizzle with the olive oil and any orange juice from the board, and finish with salt, pepper and chopped fennel fronds.

Photo: FotoosVanRobin · CC BY-SA 2.0

More ways to cook Sardines

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Lisbon, PortugalLisbon Charcoal-Grilled Sardines
El Palo, Málaga, SpainMálaga Beach Sardine Skewers
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilRio Bar-Style Fried Sardines