Pasta chi Sardi a Mari
(pah-stah kee sahr-dee ah mah-ree)
La Dispensa: The Sicilian-American Pantry Essentials
The sardines aren't actually in the pan. When the grandparents left Sicily, they couldn't pack fresh seafood, but they packed a tin of anchovies. 'Sardines at sea' is a wry peasant joke for times the boats couldn't go out. True Sicilian grandmothers built this entirely from the pantry: anchovies melted into tomato paste, sweet raisins, and the ultimate poor man's cheese—olive-oil toasted breadcrumbs. Recipes constantly screw this up by telling you to dump a can of sardines into the pan. Don't do it. At 7 p.m. on a Tuesday, once oil hisses in the skillet, drop the pasta, call it dinner, and serve a twenty-minute masterpiece of making do.
Ingredients
- golden raisins1/4 cup
- saffron threads1 pinch
- plain coarse breadcrumbs1 cup
- extra-virgin olive oil6 tbsp
- sea salt1 pinch
- yellow onion1 med
- fennel bulb1 small
- anchovy fillets packed in oil8
- garlic2 large cloves
- double-concentrated tomato paste2 tbsp
- pine nuts1/4 cup
- freshly ground black pepper1 pinch
- bucatini1 lb
Method
- 01
Steep the flavors.
In a small bowl, combine the golden raisins and saffron threads, pour over a half cup of hot water, and let them plump while you get to work.
- 02
Toast the muddica.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the breadcrumbs, and stir constantly until they turn the color of wet sand. Remove immediately to a cool plate, hit them with a pinch of salt, and wipe the skillet clean.
- 03
Build the soffritto.
Get a large pot of heavily salted water boiling for the pasta. In your skillet, heat the remaining quarter cup of olive oil over medium and sauté the diced onion and fennel bulb until deeply softened. Add the garlic and the anchovies, using the back of a wooden spoon to smash the fillets until they dissolve entirely into the oil.
- 04
Caramelize the tomato paste.
Stir the double-concentrated tomato paste into the anchovy-laced oil, letting it fry for a couple of minutes until it darkens to a brick red.
- 05
Simmer the sauce.
Dump in the steeped raisins, the saffron and its soaking liquid, and the toasted pine nuts. Drop the heat and let the whole thing simmer gently into a thick, jammy paste.
- 06
Cook the pasta.
Drop the bucatini into the boiling water. If your fennel came with bushy green fronds, toss a handful of the chopped greens into the pasta water for the final two minutes of boiling.
- 07
Marry the pasta and sauce.
Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the starchy water. Toss the noodles and the greens directly into the skillet with the sauce over low heat, splashing in pasta water as needed until every strand is coated in a glossy, reddish-gold sheen.
- 08
Serve it right.
Plate immediately and shower each portion generously with the toasted breadcrumbs. Do not even think about adding cheese.
Notes
The poor man's cheese.
Dairy was a luxury for the working class, and grating strong cheese over seafood flavors is a cardinal sin in Sicily anyway. The toasted muddica provides vital texture and a savory finish that makes the dish sing.