Jamie Magazine
By Andy Harris
50 mins
Super easy
serves 6
About the recipe
With its distinctive fragrance and sweet and sour flavours, this is a Sicilian classic.
Recipe From
Ingredients
40g sultanas or raisins
1 onion
6 baby fennel bulbs, including green tops
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon saffron threads
200g toasted pine nuts
4 anchovy fillets, from sustainable sources
12 sardines, cleaned and boned, heads removed, to produce butterfly fillets, from sustainable sources
480g bucatini
2 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs
Method
- Soak the sultanas or raisins in warm water to plump up. Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- Cook the fennel in plenty of boiling, salted water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender. Transfer with a slotted spoon to kitchen paper to dry, then roughly chop and place in a bowl, reserving the cooking water.
- Heat half the oil in a pan over a medium heat and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Add 500ml of the water used to cook the fennel, as well as the saffron, drained sultanas or raisins and pine nuts and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sauté the anchovies with the remaining oil in a small pan over a low heat for a few minutes until they disintegrate, then add to the sauce.
- Add the sardines to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the fennel. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling fennel water until al dente. Drain and serve with the sauce, sprinkling breadcrumbs on top.
Tags
