These bucatini or spaghetti with sardines are worth the effort: this is not a pantry‑style recipe, and they are at their very best in summer, when sardines and fennel are in full season. It’s a humble dish, yet generous and sun‑filled. It naturally calls for a Sicilian wine, but a lovely Fendant will be just as enjoyable.
And to follow, the season is perfect for roasted apricots with rosemary, a delicate rhubarb compote served with a few shortbread biscuits, or—if you want to keep the Italian spirit alive—a Scroppino (lemon sorbet, a splash of vodka, and prosecco blended into a light, frothy mousse). Or try the La Tzoumaz Lodge Scroppino: apricot sorbet, a dash of Abricotine, and prosecco blended together.
For 8, like in Palermo
700 g bucatini (or spaghetti)
1 kg fresh sardines, cleaned
400 g wild fennel (or fennel + 3 teaspoons fennelseeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
60 g raisins
60 g pine nuts
1 or 2 sachet saffron
Optional but strongly recommended 4 salted anchovies, rinsed and chopped(or a little anchovy paste)
100 g breadcrumbs
Extra‑virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper.
Catania variation:
Skip the saffron and add halved fresh datterino tomatoes and a spoon of tomato paste.
Soak the raisins in warm water for 15 minutes.
Clean and cook the fennel, cut into large pieces (add fennel seeds if using cultivated fennel), in salted boiling water for about 10 minutes.
Drain and keep the cooking water. Once cooled slightly, chop the fennel into small pieces.
In a pan, gently brown the chopped onion in olive oil.
Add the chopped fennel, the raisins, a ladle of the fennel cooking water, the saffron, and the pine nuts. Let it reduce for 5 minutes.
Add the sardines and anchovies.
Cook gently for another 5 minutes.
Toast the breadcrumbs in a tablespoon of olive oil, stirring often, until golden and fragrant.
Cook the pasta very al dente (2–3 minutes less than the package instructions), using salted water mixed with a little of the fennel cooking water.
Drain the pasta and transfer it to the sauté pan with one or two ladles of cooking water.
Finish cooking the pasta by tossing it in the sauce.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, adjust seasoning, and serve in a dish or individual plates, topped with the toasted breadcrumb.
