Pasta Con Finocchio E Sarde Pasta With Fennel And Sardines Food

PASTA WITH SARDINES AND FENNEL

Steps:

• In a small skillet, toast bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons olive oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.
• Simmer the fennel fronds in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and spread out on a platter to cool. Do not discard cooking water. When fronds are cool, chop finely with a large knife (or pulse in a food processor with a little of the cooking water).
• Put raisins and currants in a bowl and cover with the white wine and 1/2 cup hot fennel-cooking water. Add crumbled saffron and let ingredients steep together for 10 minutes.
• In a large skillet, stew the onions and diced fennel in 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add anchovies, ground fennel and coriander seeds, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in reserved fennel fronds. Add the raisin mixture and its liquid and bring to a simmer.
• Season the fresh sardine fillets with salt and pepper and lay them on top of the onion mixture. Put a lid on the pan and turn off the heat for about 5 minutes, so sardines cook through and are just done. Stir to distribute chunks of fish throughout mixture. (If using canned sardines, skip this step and simply stir them in.)
• Boil the bucatini in the fennel cooking water (add more water to the pot if necessary). Cook until noodles are on the firm side of al dente, then drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add pasta to pan with onion-sardine mixture, sprinkle pasta lightly with salt and gently toss together, adding a little pasta water to keep everything well moistened. Taste and correct seasoning; it should be well seasoned.
• Transfer to a large platter or wide pasta bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, pine nuts and parsley. Garnish with lemon wedges. Add a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

PASTA CON SARDE (PASTA WITH SARDINES)

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti, and cook until al dente, or 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, cover and keep warm.
• Place another 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet, and heat over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook just until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sardines, and cook 1 minute more. Stir in the bread crumbs and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. If necessary to give the mixture a crumbly texture, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Stir in the parsley and pepper, and remove from the heat. If desired, serve with additional Parmesan cheese.

IANA'S PASTA CON LE SARDE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add fennel bulb, fronds, and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add sardines with oil; stir until crumbled. Stir in raisins, pine nuts, basil, fennel seeds, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes; cook until toasted. Pour in tomatoes. Let sauce simmer.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in another pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bread crumbs and basil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Drain pasta; serve topped with the sauce, seasoned bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese.

PASTA CON FINOCCHIO E SARDE (PASTA WITH FENNEL AND SARDINES)

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with water for the pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat.
• While water is heating -- Heat oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat and add the whole cloves of garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle add the fennel, sauté for a few minutes until they start to cook. Add the raisins and the pine nuts and simmer until the water for the pasta is boiling.
• In the meantime, toast your breadcrumbs in a small heavy bottomed skillet. I usually keep old Italian bread in the freezer and chop it up in a blender when it has thawed. Trust me it is much more flavorful than store bought breadcrumbs. Keep an eye on the breadcrumbs; they usually toast quickly.
• Once the water starts to boil for the pasta add salt to the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. You should add the sardines to the pan with the fennel at this point.
• When the pasta is perfectly al dente, add a cup of the pasta water to the fennel sauce, turn up the heat on the sauce. Drain the pasta. Without shaking all of the water out of the colander pour the pasta into the pan and toss it with the sauce. This allows for the pasta to cook a little longer in the sauce and to absorb the flavor.
• Take the pan off of the heat and toss with the toasted bread crumbs and chopped fennel fronds. Serve immediately.

PASTA WITH FENNEL, SARDINES, AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions, about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine oil and pine nuts in a large saute pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until nuts are lightly toasted, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add onion, sliced fennel, garlic, and salt to pan; season with pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and light golden, 9 to 10 minutes. Add sardines; stir in lemon zest and juice. Chop reserved fennel fronds; stir into mixture.
• Drain pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to mixture in pan along with enough cooking water to coat; toss to combine. Divide among four serving plates; grate lemon zest over each. Serve immediately.

PENNE CON LA SARDINE (BAKED PASTA AND SARDINES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven (390 F, 200 C).
• Cook Penne according to package directions, but only until hardly al dente.
• Meanwhile put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in an oven proof dish.
• Salt and pepper sardines to taste and arrange them in a single layer in the dish.
• Combine cream, tomato puree and thyme leaves. Salt and pepper to taste.
• When pasta are cooked drain them (but do not rinse them) and arrange them over the fish.
• Spread the cream-tomato mixture evenly over pasta. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• Crumble feta cheese over the sauce. Place butter in little pieces on top and put in the oven.
• Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot.
• NOTE: if you like it a bit more saucy use 3/4 cup of cream and 2 tablespoons of tomato puree.