Pasta With Sardine Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 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

Recipe

• 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.