Linguine with sardine, wild fennel, saffron, raisins, and pine nuts

This pasta recipe from Apicius students and faculty features a mélange of gorgeous flavors such as wild fennel, pine nuts, saffron, and raisins.

4 servings

Ingredients
400 g linguine pasta
500 g fresh sardines, cleaned and filleted
500 g wild green fennel
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
50 g pine nuts
50 g raisins, soaked in lukewarm water
Saffron, to taste
2-3 salted anchovy fillets
120 g stale bread (for bread crumbs)

Method

Make the bread crumbs: cut the stale bread into small pieces, toast in the oven and dry at 110 degrees C. Then break them down in the food processor. Toast the breadcrumbs on the heat in a pan with Olive Oil until it gets brown and toasty, then set aside. Clean the sardines, cut into small pieces and set aside. In a large pan cook the onions in olive oil and whole garlic, add the anchovies and let them break down.
Boil the wild fennel (set some aside for garnish) in the same pot where pasta will be cooked, drain the fennel, squeeze and chop them. Keep the water boiling. Add the chopped wild fennel to the onion, then add the saffron with some cooking water and let the water slowly evaporate. Let the flavors blend together while they become fragrant. Pre-cook the linguine in the fennel water until “al dente” according to package instructions. Remove immediately and set aside. In a hot pan with a little bit of olive oil, toss the sardines until they are almost cooked and set aside. In the same pan, warm up the prepared sauce and add the pasta. Add the pine nuts and raisins. The pasta will finish cooking, and towards the end add back the cooked sardines (leave some pieces out for garnish). Add some olive oil and cooking water if needed to give a creamier consistency to the sauce.
In a pasta bowl, arrange the pasta in the middle and garnish with some cooked sardines. Finish off with a generous amount of toasted breadcrumbs and fresh wild fennel leaves.