Pasta con le Sarde
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves 4
- ½cup currants
- ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- ½cup dry white wine
- 1tablespoon butter
- ½cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
- ½cup plus 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion, finely chopped
- 2small cloves garlic, minced
- 1pound fennel, bulb finely chopped, fronds chopped and reserved
- 1tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed
- Salt
- 2pounds fresh sardines (trimmed and deboned, yielding 1¼ pounds) or 1 pound canned
- 1pound bucatini pasta
- ½cup pine nuts, toasted
- ¼cup capers, rinsed
- Freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1463 calories; 76 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 42 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 124 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 68 grams protein; 1448 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
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.
- Step 2
In a heavy skillet, heat ½ 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.
- Step 3
Add the wine mixture and the sardines, breaking them into pieces with a fork. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
- Step 4
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 ¾ of the fennel fronds, the pine nuts, the capers and a quarter of the bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 5
Divide pasta among plates and sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs and fennel fronds over each. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
CJW
I make a very similar recipe - adapted from a delicious lunch I had in Palermo several years ago. I add a pinch of saffron early on and, instead of capers, I add golden raisins, which complement the fennel and sardines beautifully (and reflect the Arab influence present in many Sicilian dishes). This is an all time favorite!
jon b. glazier
Plenty for 2 medium eaters with 6 oz bucatini,100 gram tin wild caught sardines in olive oil (from Italy).Usual Sicilian pasta and fish recipe with thoughtful addition of fennel and seeds. Really good.
Rob
A family favorite, but no need for such an insane amount of olive oil, a quarter cup is fine to cook the veg in and a tbsp or two at the end.
Karen
"Bone, when used as a verb to mean remove bones and debone are interchangeable."
hypeatia
Added one more onion (sliced thin-round) and more garlic. Didn't have fresh fennel but had the fennel seeds. This came out quite delicious. The sardines added a great punch of flavor.
Susan Wells
I agree with adding the saffron and golden raisins.
Mary Fran
Add canned (in olive oil) sardines at the very end.
claire
Could use half the breadcrumbs this called for and treat it just as a light garnish. It calls for a lot and makes the pasta a little glaggy Canned sardines for the win though.
caarin
Just delicious! I used 1 tin sardines for 1/2 recipe, golden raisins and less olive oil (including the oil from the tin). I cooked fennel, raisins and sardines in large sauté pan. Rather than drain bucatini, I used tongs to pull it out of cooking water and added it dripping to the sauté pan. The moisture from the pasta gave the sauce it a nice velvety texture. Can’t wait to make it again.
Ann Daniels
The recipe I’ve been using for years calls for anchovy paste, or anchovy fillets, which basically break down into paste in the sauce. The dish doesn’t taste like anchovies, but the extra umami is spectacular.
Bob
Did anyone else think "Add enough salt to the boiling water so that it tastes salty" was a problematic direction?
meinmunich
Didn’t have currents but cooked everything accordingly. Fantastic taste, wonderful recipe.
Mark
If using canned sardines, you may find that simmering for 10 minutes with the wine will cause them to fall apart. Next time I'd try adding them in for the last couple minutes, along with the capers, to release the flavor into the sauce but preserve texture.
Kelin
So delicious! Used walnuts instead of pricey pine nuts, eye balled the olive oil. Don't forget, the canned sardines are packed in olive oil too so you can use that. I found that the fennel cooked faster than the recipe said, I might experiment with cutting the onion and fennel in thin strips rather than small dice to stick to the pasta better.
RoseMarie
Really a delicious recipe. I love pasta con le sarde and this was authentic… made it for St. Joseph’s Day… (I am of Sicilian heritage) It tasted just like I had on the little island of Favignana, due west of Trapani in Sicily, overlooking the harbor. The only adjustment I made was that when I saw another reader used fennel pollen in lieu of fennel seeds, I made the same substitution, and it gave a delightful fennel depth. I also added more wine and raisins, because, why not!
Rob
A family favorite, but no need for such an insane amount of olive oil, a quarter cup is fine to cook the veg in and a tbsp or two at the end.
CJW
I make a very similar recipe - adapted from a delicious lunch I had in Palermo several years ago. I add a pinch of saffron early on and, instead of capers, I add golden raisins, which complement the fennel and sardines beautifully (and reflect the Arab influence present in many Sicilian dishes). This is an all time favorite!
David Hays Buckley
How about capers AND golden raisins??
CRK
Deboned or boned? Thought “boned” meant to go boneless.
Karen
"Bone, when used as a verb to mean remove bones and debone are interchangeable."
David Bonfiglio
I had some very precious fennel pollen, so I used that, rether than seeds. Fantastic.
Wendy P
Added more onion, in larger pieces, & garlic, sliced a bit thicker so it could be easily removed before serving - found the final sauce plus perfect & balanced the punch of the sardines. Delicious!
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