Italian cuisine

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Pasta with Fresh Sardines | Italian Cooking Class

Chef Enrico Alaggia

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Pasta with Fresh Sardines | Italian Cooking Class

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Pasta with Fresh Sardines is a light and delicious Sicilian dish based on fresh sardines. Cooked with tomatoes and pine nuts and crusty toasted crumbs it is both tasty and healthy. Served with pistachio-fennel pesto it is a particular culinary experience.

Recipe

PRE TIME: 30 min

COOKING TIME: 15 min

TOTAL TIME: 45 min

2 SERVING

Ingredients:

1520 oz. Fresh sardines fish whole or cleaned filet
For the crusty toasted crumbs:
1 Bunch Parsley Italian
Fresh oregano leaves
1 Clove Garlic
8 oz. Panko crumbs
1/4 cup Parmigiano grated
Favorite white wine to taste
2 tsp. Salt/pepper
1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
For the pistacchio / fennel pesto (note: a larger quantity is prepared than what is needed for better blending, and it can be used in a multitude of ways):
1 Pack Shelled pistachios
Small bunch Fresh fennel leaves
3 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Enough to coat the sardines filet All-purpose flour
Salt/pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
1 ea. Garlic clove
Italian fresh chili in oil to taste
Small bunch of Green onion / scallion
1 ea. Small yellow ripe heirloom tomato
1 ea. Small green tomato
1/4 tsp. Salt/pepper
Few Fresh basil leaves to taste
2 oz. Pine nuts (possibly roasted)
1/2 cup Saffron water
1/4 tsp. Salt/pepper
23 cup Boiling water
2 cup Pasta
1/2 ea. Radish
1/2 cup Boiling pasta water
Grated Parmigiano or Pecorino or both grated together to taste
For the wet base:
Splash of a favorite white wine to taste
1 oz. Saffron
Snap pea shots
Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Step 1

Start by cleaning the sardine's intestines and remove the spine, fishbone, and head, as shown by Chef Enrico in this episode.

Step 2

Put a pot full of water on the medium flame of the stove to cook the pasta. Water obviously must be boiling before throwing the pasta. Add a small 3 to 5 percent of salt to the water.

Step 3

Toast pine nuts on the clean nonstick pan and set them aside.

Step 4

Julienne the half radicchio in thin slices and set aside. Then lastly, slice the garlic thin.

Step 5

In a small pot, leave put the water and the saffron and heat up on medium flame for a couple of minutes and set aside in the same pot, it will be used throughout the whole recipe or all towards the end. This step can be skipped by using more pasta water and by adding the dry saffron directly in the pan during the final cooking process of the pasta in the pan with the hot sauce.

Step 6

Now start making the pistachio/fennel pesto: toast the pistachio for 10 minutes in the oven at 320 ºF /160 ºC conversion, then still hot throw the pistachios in a food processor and blend with a couple of fennel fresh leaves until desired consistency is reached. Note: in this case the longer we blend for and the more toward a buttery consistency we will go. Add salt to the pesto and set aside.

Step 7

Now start making the crusty toasted crumbs: Put all the ingredients in the food processor and blend until a sandy consistency is reached. Now toast the bread crumb mixture in a nonstick pan with salt to taste.

Step 8

Heat up a nonstick pan on a medium flame for a couple of minutes. Leave the pan in the heat while you take 2 or 3 of your fish fillets and coat them on both sides with flour.

Step 9

Pour extra virgin olive oil into the pan and sear nicely the sardine fillets on both sides and set aside.

Step 10

Now throw the pasta in the lightly salted water.

Step 11

Add more extra virgin olive oil to the saucepan on the heat and add the garlic, tomatoes, chilis in oil, green onion, in the very hot saucepan, then sprinkle with some white wine and let cook for 5 to 8 minutes on medium heat.

Step 12

After the time has passed add the pine nuts and radish and throw the halfway cooked pasta in the pan (after 5 minutes in the boiling water) with the sauce (add the dry saffron if you didn't make the saffron water) and ultimate the cooking of the pasta by sauteing carefully every couple of minutes, without breaking the large penne pasta, and by adding the pasta water a little at a time in the saucepan. Note: If you had previously made the saffron water then you can be alternating this water with the pasta water for the last part of cooking the pasta.

Step 13

When a couple of minutes are left for the pasta add the grated cheese and keep sauteing regulating the sauce thickness with the pasta water.

Step 14

Serve hot with previously seared sardines.