L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES A traditional Sicilian pasta recipe which I absolutely adore is pasta con le sarde - pasta with sardines. If you have a keen eye though, you'll notice that in my photos I used fresh anchovies instead of sardi- nes. This was simply because I did my shopping in true Italian style and bought what was available at the fish market that day. There we- ren't any sardines, so I settled for fresh anchovies instead.  Add sweet currants, salted anchovies, fresh breadcrumbs fried in olive oil, fennel, pine nuts and a little lemon zest to complete this won- derful recipe. The contrasting salty and sweet flavors combined with the fennel are typical of recipes from Palermo. Some recipes use sultanas, but in Sicily it is more common to use uvetta passolina and currants are more similar to these than sultanas. I will also con- fess that I don't usually weigh my ingredients when I make this, but instead throw in a handful of this and a generous pinch of that! It is interesting to note that the fried breadcrumbs are not present in the original and traditional recipe for pasta con le sarde. According to tradition, pasta with sardines was invented by Ge- neral Eufemio da Messina's Arab chef during the military campaign of the Arabs in the Syracuse area. The chef had to feed the numerous troops, but found himself in a dif- ficult situation as conditions meant he didn't have many ingredients at his disposal. He had to be crea- tive and prepare a dish with what was available or, as some say, with what "nature offered him." Firstly he used fish, represented by sar- dines (or anchovies in the version of the dish that goes back to the traditional spaghetti alla Siracu- sana), and then the flavors of the earth: wild fennel mainly, and pine nuts. This story is similar to so many stories of wonderful Italian recipes being created when people were at their poorest and food was scarce - you made do with whate- ver you could find or had on hand. Today this happens when we need to do some food shopping and, in- stead, we open the refrigerator and hope to be inspired by whatever is lingering there. This is often fol- lowed by staring hopefully into the pantry. It is true though that, sometimes, the best recipes come from us getting creative with wha- tever our pantries have to offer. Pasta with sardines originally was prepared around the month of September. It was in this period that market stalls offered fresh sar- dines and wild fennel flourished in the Sicilian countryside.The un- disputed banner of good Sicilian cuisine, pasta with sardines is now prepared throughout the year and is appreciated far beyond regional borders. The fennel mentioned in the recipe must be wild fennel, and it's the most tender and green parts that are used, the younger branches and the typical feathery leaves (or beards). The other ingredients of the "classic" recipe are: salted an- chovies, currants or sultanas, pine nuts and saffron. In the alla Mes- sinese variant, saffron is gene- rally not used, but fried or toasted breadcrumbs are. Pasta with sardines can be found in many variations in Si- cily. Some examples: you may find a final step to finish the dish in the oven, there are those who use tomato sauce and those who would never add tomatoes to this TONI BRANCATISANO recipe. Some also include al- monds among the ingredients. Spaghetti and bucatini are the most common pasta shapes used, although you may also find short pasta, such as maccheroncini or ziti. I absolutely have to have this recipe with a long pasta and I always use either spaghetti or bu- catini. I have tried to celebrate this delicious pasta dish by making sure I use the main ingre- dients (and the ones I love the most) and I hope you like my ver- sion. I love the marriage of fla- vors this recipe offers and I could happily eat a generous portion of this every day! Spaghetti con le sarde ■ 300g spaghetti ■ 300g sardines or fresh an- chovies ■ 100g fresh breadcrumbs (achieve by placing bread into a food processor) ■ 50g currants ■ 50g pine nuts ■ a small bunch of wild fen- nel ■ 5 anchovy fillets in oil ■ lemon zest ■ olive oil INSTRUCTIONS 1. Clean the anchovies using your hands and not a knife. (My local fishmonger taught me this method). Pull off the head snap- ping it backwards and pulling it off. Most of the intestines/organs will come away with the head. Slide your fingernail along the belly, opening up the fish. Rinse under cold running water.  Grab the spine at the end where the head was and pull outwards. You can decide to pull completely and you'll remove the tail as well, or you can cut leave the tail attached by cutting the spine off at the base with a pair of kitchen scissors. Rinse, pat dry and put aside. 2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil to cook the spa- ghetti, and add salt. 3. Place currants in a bowl co- vered with hot water. 4. Place breadcrumbs into a frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Toast, stirring frequently over a medium heat until they are golden brown, taking care not to burn them. Remove and next toast pine nuts gently, watch them clo- sely as they burn quickly. 5. Add a generous splash (or two) of olive oil into a large frying pan.  Add the 5 anchovy fillets and cook until they break up and "dissolve." 6. Add the fresh anchovies and chopped fennel. Cook gently. Drain currants and add to pan. 7. Add spaghetti to the sauce- pan when the water is at a rolling boil and cook for about a minute less than the time given on the packet, so that it is al dente. Drain and add to frying pan with ancho- vies. 8. Toss the spaghetti to ensure it incorporates all the ingredients and flavors in the frying pan.  Stir through the toasted breadcrumbs (reserve a little to sprinkle on spa- ghetti prior to serving), and half the pine nuts. 9. Divide spaghetti into two bowls. Sprinkle over remaining breadcrumbs and pine nuts. 10. Garnish with freshly grated lemon zest and a little fresh fen- nel. Pasta con le sarde can be found in many variation through Sicily. Photo: Toni Brancatisano If you can't find fresh sardines, you can use anchovies, too. Photo: Toni Brancatisano Pasta con le sarde

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