The Best Sicilian Pasta Con Le Sarde Recipe
Savor the flavors of Sicily with this Pasta con le Sarde recipe, featuring sardines, fennel, raisins, and pine nuts, all tossed with long pasta in a rich, aromatic sauce.
What is Pasta con le Sarde (Sardine Pasta Recipe)
Pasta con le sarde is a traditional Sicilian dish that combines the flavors of Southern Italy with a unique blend of ingredients. The dish features long pasta like spaghetti or bucatini, tossed with a savory sauce made from sautéed onions and wild fennel, which imparts a unique flavor combination. Garlic adds depth to the dish, while a splash of white wine rehydrates sweet raisins or currants, creating a delightful contrast.
Boneless, skinless sardines packed in oil, along with anchovies, contribute a rich, briny flavor. Toasted pine nuts offer a nutty crunch, and the dish is often garnished with fennel fronds and optional toasted breadcrumbs for added texture. The result is a delicious and flavorful pasta dish that transports you straight to Sicily!
Why You’ll Love This Pasta con le Sarde Recipe
The goal here is to, yes, teach you how to make the most popular Sicilian Pasta con le Sarde dish, but also to introduce you to sardines. Sardines are very overlooked because people have no idea what they are and assume they’re going to be fishy and gross. Or people confuse them with anchovies which are VERY different.
Like anything, there are options when it comes to sardines – fresh sardines from the fish market or cooked and packed in water or olive oil, with skin or skinless, with bones or boneless, plain or smoked. They do not contain mercury, are loaded with anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats and they are very inexpensive. I prefer the boneless, skinless ones packed in oil. If you prefer, you can swap in jarred tuna or canned salmon for the sardines in this recipe. Or vice versa – swap sardines in for canned tuna!
This is NOT a pasta dish that is typically served with cheese. But I’m not in charge of what you eat, so you do you. If you want to cut the quantity of pasta in half and swap in zucchini noodles, I approve! I know you will enjoy the incredible flavors of this dish– it’s a staple in Italian cuisine and for good reason!
Recipe Highlights
- Inexpensive dish;
- loaded with anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats;
- will take you to Sicily if you are not going there yourself!
Ingredient Notes
-
- Onion – I use a medium onion.
- Fennel – has a licorice flavor. You can consume it raw or cooked. It goes well with seafood. I save some of the fronds for garnish and I’ll freeze the rest of the fronds to make vegetable stock.
- Garlic – I like having a jar of peeled garlic (that I peel myself) in the fridge. Total game changer.
- White wine – No need to use an expensive bottle of wine for cooking. Anything under $18 is fine. I like to use sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, or pinot grigio.
- Anchovies – are really small fish. They are smaller than sardines.
- Canned Sardines – I use boneless, skinless sardine fillets packed in oil (the tinned variety). Sardines with the bones are a great source of calcium and they’re very soft. You can save the oil from the tins to cook the fennel and onions.
- Raisins – add a nice sweetness to this dish. You can use red or golden raisins or currants. I add them with the wine so it helps rehydrate them.
- Pine nuts – are the edible seeds of pines. I toast them in a skillet (with no oil) until golden brown. Be careful when toasting nuts or seeds on the stove because they can go from golden to burned in a matter of seconds. Skip if you can’t find reasonably priced pine nuts.
- Pasta – you can use your favorite pasta here, but a long, thin pastas like spaghetti or bucatini is traditional. Be sure to save some of the pasta water before draining.
- Breadcrumbs – are completely optional. Feel free to use them for garnish if you’d like.
- Salt and black pepper to taste.
Step-by-Step Instructions
In a large skillet that is big enough to fit the pasta, warm the extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Next, add the onion and fennel and sauté until the onion is tender and translucent and the fennel has almost softened– about 6 minutes.
Add the garlic, salt, pepper, fennel seeds (if using), and crushed red pepper and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine and currants and cook until the liquid is almost fully reduced.
Now, Add the anchovies and sardines, breaking them up in the pan with a wooden spoon, until heated through. Then, add the pine nuts and toss to combine.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the boiling water with a handful of kosher salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve a cup of the pasta water (about 1 cup) before draining the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan with the sardine mixture and toss to combine. You can add some of the pasta cooking water or a drizzle of olive oil to the pasta mixture if it looks a little dry. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds.
Recipe Tips
- You can serve it with toasted bread crumbs if you’d like. I generally don’t, but they provide a nice texture.
- To toast pine nuts, add them to a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Stir them around frequently until golden brown. Immediately transfer them to a plate so they don’t continue to brown in the hot skillet.
- Feel free to use the oil in the can of sardines to sauté the fennel and onions.
- After you add the sardines, try not to break them up too much. They’ll get broken up as you toss the pasta.
- I like to save extra pasta water to add to the pasta if it looks a little dry or when reheating leftovers.
- If your fennel wasn’t sold with the fronds, use a little fresh herbs like parsley for garnish.
- If you want to get fancy, heat up the wine and crumble in a big pinch of saffron and let it dissolve for 10 minutes, and then add the saffron-infused wine mixture as directed in Step 2.
- You can garnish with red pepper flakes for a little added heat if desired.
Substitutions
- Sardines – jarred tuna or canned salmon
- Make it plant-based – omit the anchovies and sardines, and add in a can of chickpeas, drained and smashed + ¼ cup capers.
- Anchovies – these have a very salty, distinctive flavor. Feel free to omit if they’re not your thing.
- Fennel – use more onion, omit, or try sliced celery or fennel seeds
- Pasta – You can cut the quantity of pasta in half and swap in zucchini noodles.
- Here are some other ways to try tinned sardines. Just read the package to make sure you’re getting what you want, such as in oil, with bones or boneless etc.
- In a salad in place of tuna, an easy one to try is in a Nicoise Salad
- On toast with tomatoes and smashed avocado
- Chop them up and stir them into tomato sauce
- Swap them in place of other canned fish in a fish cake or fish patty
- Chop them up and add them to braised greens
- They’re natural with potatoes. Add them to my Italian Potato Salad
More Delicious Recipes
Pasta with melted zucchini sauce
Fish in parchment with fennel, citrus and olives
Branzino fillets with green olive and fennel tapenade
If you give this pasta con le sarde recipe a try, snap a pic and tag @pamelasalzman on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations. I also really appreciate readers taking the time to leave a rating and review! Subscribe for free to my site for the latest recipes, updates, and things I’ve been loving lately. If you enjoy this recipe, I taught it last year in my online class! Give me an hour a month, and I’ll make you a better, healthier cook!
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- ¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil (feel free to use the oil from the sardine tins)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced, fronds reserved
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Optional: ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed on a cutting board with a knife
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, or pinot grigio
- ⅓ cup dried currants or raisins (try golden raisins if you can find them)
- 6 anchovies, about a 1.5 to 2-ounce jar (optional)
- 3 (4-ounce) tins sardines packed in oil, drained (you can use the oil to sauté the vegetables)
- ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted* (optional or use another nut like walnuts)
- 1 pound pasta of your choice (the dish is typically made with BUCATINI, a hollow spaghetti)
- Kosher salt
- Fresh breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil in a skillet, if you like for garnish
- In a large pan that is big enough to fit the pasta, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel and sauté until the onion is tender and translucent and the fennel has almost softened, about 6 minutes.
- Add the garlic, salt, pepper, fennel seeds (if using), and crushed red pepper and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine and currants and cook until the liquid is almost fully reduced.
- Add the anchovies and sardines, breaking them up in the pan with a wooden spoon, until heated through. Add the pine nuts and toss to combine.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water with a handful of kosher salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water (about 1 cup) before draining the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan with the sardine mixture and toss to combine. You can add some pasta water or a drizzle of olive oil to the pasta mixture if it looks a little dry. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds.
*To toast pine nuts, add them to a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Stir them around frequently until golden brown. Immediately transfer them to a plate so they don’t continue to brown in the hot skillet.
Make it plant-based: omit the anchovies and sardines, and add in a can of chickpeas, drained and smashed + ¼ cup capers.
Here are some other ways to try tinned sardines. Just read the package to make sure you’re getting what you want, such as in oil, bone-in or boneless etc.
• In a salad in place of tuna, an easy one to try is in a Nicoise Salad
• On toast with tomatoes and smashed avocado
• Chop them up and stir them into tomato sauce
• Swap them in place of other canned fish in a fish cake or fish patty
• Chop them up and add them to braised greens
• They’re natural with potatoes. Add them to my Italian Potato Salad
