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Pasta con le Sarde a Mare

Summary

Yield
Servings
Sourcehttps://blog.giallozafferano.it/maniamore/pasta-con-le-sarde-a-mare/
Prep time30 minutes
RegionItaly

Description

Pasta con le Sarde a Mare

This pretty golden riff on the classic Sicilian Pasta con Sarde has plenty of goodness.

Pasta con le Sarde a Mare is literally "Pasta with the sardines (still) in the sea" - it contains no sardines at all! 

It does have tender fennel, saffron, golden raisins, pine nuts, and other foodie goodness, so it's totally delicious, especially if you didn't have your heart set on those sardines.

It uses anchovies for a salty marine flavor, but if you used a teaspoon of salt instead then this would be a vegetarian dish. 

Ingredients

2eaFennel bulbs (trimmed and chopped)
1eaOnion (chopped)
6eaAnchovies
1tSaffron threads (see notes)
1TPine Nuts
1Tgolden raisins
1⁄3cDry White Wine
1tTomato Paste
3TExtra-Virgin Olive Oil
8ozBucatini
1⁄4cBread Crumbs
1pnSugar
1pnSalt

Instructions

  1. Boil up a pasta pot of salted water.
  2. In a broad pan, cook the chopped onion in olive oil until golden. Add the anchovies and mash them with a wooden spoon until they dissolve into the oil. Add the pine nuts and tomato paste.
  3. Hear up the white wine in the microwave for about a minute, then add the golden raisins to plump them up. Crush the saffron threads and add them to the white wine as well.
  4. Add the wine-saffron-raisins mix to the pan.
  5. Boil the chopped fennel for 7-10 minutes until tender, then lift it from the pasta pot with a strainer and add it to the mixture. It's OK if you don't get it all, because you will cook the pasta in this flavored water.
  6. Cook the bucatini in the fennel water until al dente.
  7. In a small skillet, toast the breadcrumbs with the olive oil and salt and sugar for about five minutes. This is the atturata.
  8. Strain the pasta and put it and the sauce from the skillet in a big bowl to mix.
  9. Transfer everything to a nice serving platter, then dust it with the toasted crumbs and serve hot.

Notes

Saffron is expensive, but worth it. 1 gram of saffron is about 2 tsp. whole threads, 1 teaspoon crumbled or ½ teaspoon powdered. Powdered saffron loses flavor quickly and is often cut with turmeric. This is more to make it a measurable quantity than to cheat the customer. You are always better served to buy the whole threads and be very parsimonious with them.
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  • By John at 06/24/2020 - 20:09
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