Pasta con le Sarde 1

By LeeBoruchow

This dish, which has tons of variations, tends to scare lots of people, but it really is subtle. I have also made it with salted canned sardines, which is good in its own special way.

Ingredients

• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, greens removed and reserved, bulb cut into sticks
• 1.5 lbs whole fresh sardines, gutted and spines/heads removed, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 2 tablespoons dried currants, soaked and drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 pound dried bucatini
• Fresh breadcrumbs, toasted in oil until crisp

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

In a hot skillet, add olive oil and saute fennel until caramelized.
Season the sardines to taste with salt.

Salt the fennel to soften. In the skillet with the caramelized fennel, add the sardines and briefly saute. Add the onions, currants, and pine nuts and saffron. Add tomatoes and and salt just the tomatoes. The sauce should be slightly tight. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Bring 6 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a rolling boil. Add the bucatini and cook until tender but still al dente. Drain the cooked pasta into the pan and toss to coat. Sauce could be too tight, so adjust with pasta cooking water. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with fennel fronds and a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs.