Pasta mare e monti
This is a dish where the sea meets the mountains, born out of the ingenuity of an Arabic cook who was forced to create a meal from the few ingredients available during a military campaign in Syracuse.
• 1 kg fennel
• 1 kg sardines, cleaned and butterflied
• 800g bucatini pasta
• 2 onions, chopped
• 6 anchovies, rinsed
• 50g pine nuts
• 50g sultanas
• 50g toasted almonds
• 100g breadcrumbs
• Pinch of saffron
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
1. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Boil the fennel in salted water, then remove it and reserve the water. Chop the fennel.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan and lightly fry the fennel, onions, anchovies, pine nuts, saffron, sultanas and half the sardines.
3. Cook the bucatini pasta in the fennel water, drain and toss it through 2/3 of the seafood sauce.
4. Place the pasta in a baking dish, cover with the remaining sardines, almonds and leftover sauce and bake for 10 minutes.