Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Recipes
International Series Wine Club
Pasta con le Sarde
This traditional Sicilian pasta dish may sound scary to anyone who dislikes either sardines or the anise scent of fresh fennel, but its combination of those two traditional ingredients with golden raisins and pine nuts makes it a truly iconic Sicilian pasta course. The balanced combination of bold flavors isn’t at all what you might expect, and if you’re willing to try it - or better yet, if you think it sounds excellent in the first place - we think you’ll find that it sings with your delectable Siciliana 2012 Insolia white. (recipe courtesy of Robin Garr Wineloverspage.com)
Ingredients
- 4 oz Bucatini or spaghetti
- 1/2 cup fresh fennel bulb, chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
- 4 oz olive oil, divided
- 2 oz dry white wine
- 1/4 cup tomato puree, drained or fresh tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 oz golden raisins
- 1 oz pine nuts
- pinch saffron (optional)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 can of sardines in oil, drained and patted dry with paper towels
- 1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs
Start the pasta cooking in a large pot of salted boiling water. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the chopped fennel and onion in half of the olive oil until they soften and turn translucent.
Deglaze the skillet by pouring in the wine and cooking and stirring until it almost all evaporates. Add the tomato puree or fresh tomatoes and a splash of water, and reduce heat to a simmer. Add the raisins, pine nuts, saffron and sardines. Add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes while the pasta cooks.
Toward the end of cooking, stir a splash of pasta cooking water into the sauce. This old Italian custom gently thickens the sauce with the pasta starch. Drain the pasta and stir it into the simmering sardine sauce. Serve in warm bowls, topped with a sprinkle of toasted bread crumbs.
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