Pasta with Sardines & Fennel

Pasta with Sardines & Fennel is my take on a Sicilian classic, but using convenient and easily available tinned sardines.

Fresh fennel, fennel seeds, lemon and garlic are joined by raisins and pine nuts. Topped with crispy mollica breadcrumbs or ‘poor man’s Parmesan’, Pasta with Sardines & Fennel is an easy, satisfying and flavour-packed dish.

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‘THE MOST TYPICAL OF SICILIAN PASTA DISHES’

According to my Italian food guru, Claudia Roden, pasta with sardines ‘is the most typical of Sicilian pasta dishes.’ I can’t say that I remember eating much pasta when I was in Sicily, but I’ve been making a version of pasta with sardines for many years.

In her classic The Food of Italy Roden makes it with fresh sardines, floured and fried, combined with onion, wild fennel, pine nuts and raisins. Variations I’ve seen elsewhere have included saffron, white wine or anchovy.

Unfortunately, I don’t have easy access to spankingly fresh sardines. Nor, you won’t be surprised to learn, is the Staffordshire Moorlands known for its abundance of wild fennel. So, my version has always been based around the humble tinned sardine, a bulb of fennel plus fennel seeds.

SARDINES

As well as being readily available, tinned sardines are a good source of those omega-3 fats we should all be eating. You can use just about any tinned sardine you like in this recipe, although I recommend ones in olive oil. Mind you, even sardines in tomato sauce aren’t out of the question as I’ve seen recipes for pasta with sardines that include tomato.

Although the bones in tinned sardines are completely edible (and are a good source of calcium), I don’t like them. So, to avoid faffing about, I try to buy boneless fillets in olive oil. These are a little more expensive, but still good value when you consider the whack of flavour they’re going to bring.

If you do use sardines in olive oil, don’t drain it away. You can use it in the pasta sauce.

FENNEL

I assume that, like me, you can’t just nip out for some wild fennel. But consider yourself lucky if you can find a fennel bulb that hasn’t had virtually all its feathery fronds lopped off.

So, to heighten the fennel flavour in my Pasta with Sardines, as well as sautéing the finely chopped bulb and any remaining leaves, I add fennel seeds.

Fennel is one of my favourite spices anyway, and a teaspoonful makes all the difference in this dish. I lightly crush it with the back of a spoon to bring out more of its aniseed flavour.

MOLLICA

Because Pasta with Sardines takes very little time to put together, I suggest you get going on the final flourish right at the start. That flourish is a scattering of mollica or pangrattato.

To Brits, that may sound exotic. But we’re just talking breadcrumbs here.

Mollica is Italian for crumb and pangrattato means ‘grated bread’. Recently, both words have come to mean crumbs made crispy by frying in olive oil until golden.

Sprinkled over pasta and other dishes to bring flavour and texture, this great use for stale bread is sometimes referred to as ‘poor man’s Parmesan’.

I flavour mine with garlic by browning a clove in olive oil and then using that oil to fry the crumbs. But you can add other flavourings like herbs or lemon.

I’ve found that leftover mollica stays crispy in a jar in the fridge for a day or two. Try it sprinkled over salads or cooked veg like asparagus.

MAKING PASTA WITH SARDINES & FENNEL

The first thing to do for the pasta sauce itself is soak a few raisins in boiling water. Are you surprised to find raisins in an Italian pasta dish?

The fact, often noted, is that the island of Sicily is closer to North Africa than to Rome. That, along with centuries of invasions by among others Berbers, Arabs and Spanish Muslims, is reflected in its wonderful cuisine.

While the raisins are soaking, start softening the chopped fennel along with onion and garlic. The fennel seeds and pine nuts go in near the end of this stage. I like a little heat with some dried chilli flakes too.

Once the veg is starting to soften and turn golden, the rest of the cooking isn’t going to take long. So, especially if you’re using dried rather than fresh pasta, you’d best put it on to cook now. Long pasta is traditional for this dish. I like linguine or spaghetti.

With the heat turned up a notch, the drained raisins go in next along with the sardines. Everything’s then sizzled for a minute or two, the sardines broken up a little with your spoon as you stir them around.

Then it’s in with the drained pasta, some lemon zest + juice and a good stir around.

Tip: When you drain the pasta, keep back a little cooking water. You can add some to the sauce if you want to thin it.

Check the seasoning, add some parsley, and that’s it. Your Pasta with Sardines & Fennel is ready to serve.

SERVING PASTA WITH SARDINES & FENNEL

Transfer the pasta with its light cloak of sauce to a bowl, then sprinkle on more lemon zest and squeeze over extra lemon juice. I like a little drizzle of olive oil too.

Then it’s time to get plenty of that golden, crispy mollica over the top, adding more as you eat your way through this great little dish.

EASY, STUNNING DISH FOR SUMMER

With its combination of rich fish and garlic, slippery pasta, sweet raisins, aniseed notes from the fennel, plus crispy crumbs, and crunchy pine nuts, I think Pasta with Sardines & Fennel is a stunner.

In the detailed recipe, I’ve given amounts to serve one person generously and I think it makes a fabulous solitary lunch. Ideally eaten outside on a sunny day, it’s a great way to treat yourself relatively inexpensively.

But the dish also lends itself to cooking for larger numbers. And you can make it into a more substantial meal with the addition of a green salad and a chunk of bread. Smaller portions are also good as a starter.

When I visited Sicily (can it really be over ten years ago?), I didn’t get to eat this ‘most typical’ pasta dish. But I do think my version captures some of the island’s varied flavours.

While, here in Britain, we’re unlikely to get the glorious summer weather of Sicily, make a bowl or two of this robust little dish and you could almost imagine yourself there, where Europe meets North Africa.

Have you made Pasta with Sardines & Fennel? Leave a comment and don’t forget to rate the recipe.

5 from 3 votes

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Pasta with Sardines & Fennel

A take on the Sicilian classic, substituting tinned sardines for fresh. An easy & flavour-packed dish topped with crispy garlic breadcrumbs.

Course Main Course, Fish, Lunch, Pasta

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword easy, tinned fish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 1

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

For the mollica breadcrumbs

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic skinned, left whole
• 40 g breadcrumbs

For the pasta & sauce

• 20 g raisins
• 1 small tin sardines in olive oil (boneless or bones removed if preferred) approx 90-120g drained weight
• 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling
• 1 small onion finely diced
• 1 small fennel bulb finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 10 g pine nuts
• 1 tsp fennel seeds lightly crushed
• dried chilli flakes to taste
• salt & black pepper to taste
• 75-90 g long pasta e.g. linguine, spaghetti
• 1 small lemon zest chopped finely, lemon cut in half
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions

For the mollica breadcrumbs

1. To flavour the olive oil, put it and the skinned garlic clove in a large frying pan.

   Over gentle heat, cook the garlic until it's golden brown, turning regularly (3-5 min).

   Remove and discard the garlic.

2. Heat the oil to medium then stir in the breadcrumbs.

   Cook until golden and crispy, stirring often so they brown evenly (8-10 min).

   Transfer the crumbs to a piece of paper towel and leave to cool.

For the pasta & sauce

1. Put the raisins in a small bowl, cover with boiling water from a kettle and set aside.

2. Wipe out the frying pan and put in the oil from the tinned sardines plus extra olive oil to make it up to around 2 tbsp. Heat to moderately low.

3. Add the onion, fennel and garlic with a little salt and pepper.

   Stirring often, cook until they're softening and turning golden brown (10-15 min), adding the pine nuts, fennel seeds and chilli flakes for the last few minutes.

   Meanwhile, pour boiling water from a kettle into a saucepan, add salt and start cooking the pasta. Drain when done to your liking, but keep aside a little of the cooking water.

4. Turn the heat up to medium again then add the drained raisins and sardines to the frying pan. Break up the sardines a little as you stir in.

   Cook for 2 minutes to heat and lightly brown the sardines.

5. Add the drained pasta to the pan, along with half the lemon zest. Squeeze in the juice from one half of the lemon. Stir so that the pasta is dressed with the sauce.

   Stir in a small amount of the reserved pasta cooking water if the sauce seems dry.

   Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

6. To serve, take off the heat and stir in the parsley.

   Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle over the rest of the lemon zest and squeeze over the juice from the remaining lemon half. Drizzle with more olive oil if liked

   Scatter over the mollica breadcrumbs and eat.

Recipe Notes

Leftover mollica breadcrumbs should keep in a jar in the fridge for 1-2 days.

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