Pasta con Sarde

Hi Everyone,  tonight I'll be cooking a truly authentic Sicilian dish.  Pasta con sarde or spaghetti with sardine sauce was a special dish in my grandmother's kitchen.  She would cook it when it was requested, and I was usually the one doing the requesting.  I always loved the blending of the very different flavors of fennel, capers, and raisins with the fishiness of the sardines.   Grandma would always say how truly Sicilian the dish was.  When my daughter and I were in Sicily, I was delighted to see pasta con sarde on almost all the menus and even more delighted when the dish tasted just like Grandma's!   Sauteed escarole is a nice accompaniment to this meal.

Pasta con Sarde:

Start by making a basic tomato sauce, that is, brown a couple of cloves of garlic in olive oil and salt, then add a couple of sliced ripe plum tomatoes when in season or slice up three canned San Marzano whole tomatoes and some of the canned juice.  As it is cooking add some fresh chopped parsley and about a teaspoon of sugar.  This is a quick and delicious marinara sauce for pasta.  To this sauce I'm going to add a can of sardines packed in OLIVE OIL, not anything else.  Mash the sardines into the sauce and as the sauce is simmering, add a tablespoon of ground fennel powder, 2 tablespoons of capers, and a small handful of raisins.  The raisins are a great counterbalance to the other flavors and an integral part of the dish. Let the sauce simmer for 1/2 an hour. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.  I prefer linguine to spaghetti but that is a matter of choice, just make sure it's al dente.  Drain the pasta, and ladle the sauce on top.  As with all fish and pasta combinations, grated cheese does not appear on the table.  This is a really fresh and savory sauce for fish lovers.  Mmmmmmmm, I can't wait!  xo