Pasta con le sarde
Palermo's great pasta: fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins, pine nuts and saffron, finished with toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 1 hr 5 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Pasta con le sarde puts Sicily's history on one plate: fresh sardines and wild fennel from the island, with the raisins, pine nuts and saffron that came with its Arab rulers. The wild fennel is the heart of it. Boil the fronds in the pasta pot, chop them into the sauce, then cook the bucatini in that same green, aniseed-scented water. The sauce starts with onion softened slowly in olive oil and a few salted anchovies melted into it. The sardines go in last, so they break into soft flakes without turning to mush. Toast coarse breadcrumbs in a dry pan until they are the colour of hazelnuts: this muddica atturrata is the cheese of the poor, and the dish takes no cheese at all. Done is pasta that is sweet, salty and fragrant at once, golden with saffron, with crunch on top.
What you'll need
12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Pasta, bucatini400 g
- Sardines, fresh, scaled, heads and bones removed, opened flat500 g
- Fennel, wild fennel fronds and tender stems200 g
- Onion, finely chopped1 medium
- Anchovy fillet, salted, rinsed4
- Raisins, small sultanas, soaked 10 minutes in warm water40 g
- Pine nuts30 g
- Saffron, steeped in 2 tbsp warm water1 pinch
- Breadcrumbs, coarse, dry, from stale bread60 g
- Olive oil, extra virgin89 ml
- Black pepper2½ ml
- Salt, for the water15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the fennel for 10 minutes until tender. Lift it out, squeeze it dry and chop it finely. Keep the water for the pasta.
12 min
Step 2
Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry frying pan with 1 tbsp oil, stirring all the time, until deep golden. Tip them out and set aside.
5 min
Step 3
Soften the onion in 4 tbsp oil over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the anchovies and stir until they melt, then the drained raisins, pine nuts, saffron with its water and the chopped fennel. Cook 5 minutes, loosening with a ladle of the fennel water.
16 min
Step 4
Lay in the sardines and cook 5 minutes, breaking them gently with a wooden spoon into large flakes. Season with pepper.
5 min
Step 5
Cook the bucatini in the fennel water until al dente. Drain, keeping a cup of water, and toss with the sauce and a splash of the water. Serve with the breadcrumbs scattered thickly on top.
12 min
Tip: Many Palermo cooks layer it in a dish with more breadcrumbs and give it 10 minutes in the oven.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 706 kcal
- Protein
- 38.7 g
- Carbs
- 54.6 g
- Fat
- 37.5 g
- Saturated fat
- 6.7 g
- Fibre
- 4.6 g
- Sugar
- 9.4 g
- Sodium
- 1581 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Fish
- Tree nuts
- Pescatarian
- Dairy-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Wild fennel → Bulb fennel fronds and dill
Milder; add a pinch of crushed fennel seed with the onion.
Tips
- Sardines must be very fresh: bright eyes, firm bodies, a clean smell of the sea.
- Wild fennel is finer and more aniseedy than the fronds on a fennel bulb. Without it, use bulb fronds with a few sprigs of dill and a pinch of fennel seed.
History & culture
In Palermo this is the dish of spring and early summer, when wild fennel grows tall on the hillsides and sardines are cheap at the Vucciria and Ballarò markets. Every family has its own balance of sweet and salt. When no sardines are to hand it is made 'a mare', with fennel and breadcrumbs only, the sardines still being in the sea.
One story credits the cook of an Arab army that landed in western Sicily in the ninth century, who fed the troops from what grew and swam nearby. Whatever its beginning, saffron, raisins and pine nuts are the mark of two centuries of Arab rule, which shaped Sicilian cooking more than any other.
Traditional — The Palermo version with wild fennel, saffron and toasted breadcrumbs. No tomato and no cheese.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Pasta con le sarde take?
1 hr 5 min all in — 30 min prep, 35 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Fish, Tree nuts. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Pescatarian, Dairy-free.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Stockpot, Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tbsp (for the water).
What can I use instead?
Wild fennel → Bulb fennel fronds and dill. Milder; add a pinch of crushed fennel seed with the onion.
Any tips from this recipe?
Sardines must be very fresh: bright eyes, firm bodies, a clean smell of the sea. Wild fennel is finer and more aniseedy than the fronds on a fennel bulb. Without it, use bulb fronds with a few sprigs of dill and a pinch of fennel seed.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
Similar dishes
Pasta alla Norma
Sicilian eggplant, tomato and salted ricotta — named for an opera, cooked like a Tuesday.
Easy
Orecchiette con cime di rapa
Orecchiette con le cime di rapa
Puglia's signature pasta: orecchiette cooked with bitter cime di rapa, tossed in olive oil with garlic, anchovy and chilli, topped with toasted crumbs.
Easy
Spaghetti alla puttanesca
Naples' larder pasta: tomatoes, black Gaeta olives, capers, garlic and chilli, with anchovy as Rome makes it. Loud, quick and cheese-free.
EasyMedium heat