• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 433 0

flesh on the fish as possible. (Don’t worry too much about small bones because the high-heat cooking will make them so tender you won’t even notice them.) Cut or pull off the tail, along with any attached bone. With scissors, snip off the dorsal fin on the top of the fish. Repeat with the remaining sardines.

Season the inside of each sardine with salt and pepper and tuck in some mint, squeeze some lemon juice over the fish, fold the sides over, and secure it closed with a toothpick. Set aside.

To prepare the salad, heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and, when it is hot, add the shallots and salt and cook until the shallots are lightly caramelized, about 7 minutes. Transfer the shallots to a large bowl, along with the pine nuts, shaved fennel, currants, lemon juice, and reserved mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat a pan (I love to use a well-seasoned cast-iron pan for this) over high heat. You’ll need the pan to be superhot in order to caramelize the sardines in the short time it takes to cook them. Add the vegetable oil, and 30 seconds later, carefully add the stuffed sardines, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, and carefully flip the fish using a sturdy, thin-edged metal spatula (see Tools of the Trade on page xxiv). Cook for another minute or two on the other side. Transfer to a plate.

To serve, place an equal portion of salad on 4 plates and top each with some sardines. Drizzle about a teaspoon of olive oil over the top of each person’s dish. Garnish with the fennel fronds and serve with the crusty bread.

PAIRING: An albariño, such as La Cana 2008, Rías Baixas, Spain, or a grüner veltliner.

emmer pasta con le sarde

For the emmer pasta:

1 cup emmer flour57

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive

oil

1 tablespoon water

For the topping:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive

oil

¼ cup panko

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup minced fresh Italian

parsley

Salt

For the sauce:

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil,

plus additional for drizzling

(optional)

1 cup small-diced red onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

½ cup small-diced celery

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pinch of salt

1 (4-ounce) tin sardines

1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried currants

⅓ cup roughly chopped

toasted walnuts

Pasta con le Sarde is a rustic Sicilian dish of pasta with sardine sauce. I’ve taken this classic dish and added a locally grown ancient Italian form of wheat (emmer, also known as farro) to make the pasta. I used to be one of those people who complained about whole-grain pastas. Dry! Like cardboard! Sucks all the moisture out of my face! I would say. Then one day I realized I was throwing out the proverbial whole-grain baby with the pasta water. I’ve found that making pastas with half all-purpose flour and half whole-grain flour happily walks the line between health, texture, and flavor. Emmer is enjoying a renaissance right now. I love how nutty and earthy it is—without it being so crunchy as to inspire me to dig out my old Birkenstocks.

SERVES 4

To prepare the pasta, follow the directions for Homemade Fettuccine (page 15), except for this recipe I prefer a thicker noodle, so stop rolling the dough at the #5 or #6 setting. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it heavily. While the water comes to a boil, make the topping and start the sauce.

To prepare the topping, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and panko, and, stirring frequently, sauté the panko until it is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix thoroughly with the lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, and salt to taste. Set aside.

To prepare the sauce, wipe out your skillet and heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, celery, red pepper flakes, and salt. Sauté until the vegetables start to soften, about 7 minutes. Add the sardines, tomatoes, currants, and walnuts; cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.