Palermo Bucatini with Fresh Sardines, Wild Fennel and Saffron

13 ingredients

13 steps

What you need

320 g (11 oz) bucatini
450 g (1 lb) fresh sardines, heads and backbones removed, opened flat
125 g (4 1/2 oz) wild fennel fronds, tender tops only, or fronds from bulb fennel
1 yellow onion, very finely sliced
5 salted anchovy fillets, rinsed
60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 tsp for the breadcrumbs
25 g (3 tbsp) raisins
30 g (1 oz) pine nuts
25 g (3 tbsp) almonds, finely chopped
1 pinch saffron, about 0.1 g
80 ml (1/3 cup) warm water
25 g (3 tbsp) dry breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper, to taste

Restated from the original video

1
Rinse the sardines under cold running water and pat them dry. Keep them on a plate.
2
Cover the raisins with warm tap water and leave them to plump for 10 min.
3
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Blanch the fennel until tender, 5-10 min.
4
Lift out the fennel with a slotted spoon, keeping the pot of water on the heat for the pasta. Squeeze it dry and chop it into 2 cm (3/4 in) pieces.
5
Warm the olive oil in a wide frying pan over low heat and add the onion and anchovies.
6
Cook gently, stirring often, until the onion is soft and pale and the anchovies have melted, about 10 min.
7
Stir the saffron into the warm water and pour it into the pan.
8
Lay in the sardines, then add the drained raisins, almonds and pine nuts.
9
Simmer over low heat until the sardines break into flakes, about 10 min. Stir in the fennel and season with salt and pepper.
10
In a small dry pan, toast the breadcrumbs with the extra 2 tsp olive oil, stirring, until golden, 3-4 min.
11
Cook the bucatini in the fennel water until al dente.
12
Drain the bucatini and toss it in the sardine sauce over low heat for 1 min, loosening with a splash of the cooking water if it looks dry.
13
Serve with the toasted breadcrumbs scattered over each plate.

Imported from giallozafferano.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.