Pasta with sardines

To make pasta with sardines, first clean the wild fennel by removing the toughest parts of the stalks 1. In a pot bring 3 liters of water to a boil (about 13 cups / 3.2 qt), then add the fennel and boil it for 3-4 minutes if tender, or 10-12 minutes if late-season (more mature) 2. Drain the fennel 3 and reserve the cooking water.

Transfer the fennel to a fine sieve and press it to remove excess water 4. Add the liquid obtained to the reserved cooking water 5. Finally, chop the fennel 6.

Prepare the saffron water: toast the saffron threads in a small saucepan for a couple of minutes 7, then deglaze with the water 8 and bring to a boil 9. When it starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Set that aside and move on to the crunchy breadcrumbs: place the tomato sauce and the oil in a blender 10 together with the finely chopped garlic 11 and the oregano 12.

Add the chili pepper 13 and the parsley 14, then blend until you obtain a homogeneous mixture 15.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the breadcrumbs 16, then mix well to combine 17. Break up the mixture using a coarse sieve or a colander to remove moisture, taking care to return to the bowl any bits retained by the sieve 18.

Pour the resulting breadcrumbs into a frying pan 19, season with salt and toast until they become dry and crunchy 20. Now you can clean the sardines: prepare a couple of bowls with ice water that you will use to remove blood from the fish during cleaning. Cut off the head 21, the dorsal and ventral fins, placing the sardines, as you go, into one of the bowls with ice water.

Open the sardines like a book, remove the backbone 22 and rinse them in the second bowl with ice water. Drain the cleaned sardines and lay them on a tray lined with paper towels 23, then pat them dry. Finally, roughly chop them, dividing each into 3 pieces 34.

You're ready to cook the sauce: clean and finely chop the spring onions 25, then sauté them in a pan with the oil, the chopped garlic 26 and the anchovies 27, keeping the oil from the anchovy jar aside.

When the anchovies begin to break down 28, add a little of their oil and the chili pepper. After a few minutes pour in the saffron water 29 and the pine nuts 30.

Add the raisins as well 31 and the wild fennel 32. Mix well, then add the sardines 33.

Season with salt 34 and, if necessary, add more water: the sardines should be covered. Meanwhile, bring the reserved fennel cooking water to a boil; if it's not enough you can add more water. Salt the boiling water and cook the spaghettoni for the time indicated 35, then drain them into the pan with the sauce 36.

Add another drizzle of oil and toss the pasta for up to one minute, stirring gently 37. Finish the dish with the crunchy breadcrumbs 38 and serve your pasta with sardines immediately 39!