Pasta With Sardine Sauce

Pasta con le Sarde This is a classic Sicilian dish from Palermo,created when the Saracens ruled Sicily. Sicilians would use the fennel that grows wild in the lava-rich soil which is a more intense taste than the cultivated. This recipe from www.inmamaskitchen.com

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2  lbs  fresh sardines
• 1 1⁄2 lbs fennel bulbs, thickly sliced
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil
• 2  onions, finely sliced
• 4  anchovy fillets
• 1⁄2 cup pine nuts
• 1⁄2 cup golden raisin
• 1  dash saffron
•  salt and pepper
• 1  lb bucatini pasta
• 1  cup  breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Remove heads and tails from half the sardines. Cut in 1 inch pieces. Leave second half intact.
3. Wash and trim fennel. Put into pan with about 8 cups cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 5- 8 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, drain in colander, then gently squeeze out water. Chop roughly. Reserve cooking water.
4. Heat 1/4 cup oil in frying pan. Sauté onions over medium heat until golden. Add chopped sardines and anchovies. As they cook, crush sardines with back of spoon to make a thick paste. Add pine nuts, raisins, saffron, salt and pepper.
5. In a separate pan, heat remaining oil and lightly sauté the fennel, removing to a separate bowl. Sauté the remaining whole sardines. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes, turning once gently to not break sardines.
6. Using fennel water, boil pasta until al dente, about 10 -= 12 minutes. Drain. Put in bowl and dress with half the sardine sauce.
7. Put a layer of dressed pasta in an ovenproof casserole. On top of that, put a layer of fennel, then a a layer of whole sardines with additional sauce. Continue until ingredients are used up, ending with a layer of bucatini. Cover with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top. Cover and bake in preheated 350°F oven 15 - 20 minutes.
8. Pasta may be served hot or cold.