"Sarde a beccafico", the unique Sicilian sardine rolls

Do you know what "sarde a beccafico" are? And why they have got this strange name? This is a typical Sicilian dish made of fresh sardines filled with our traditional ingredients: breadcrumbs, olive oil, pine nuts and raisins. Beccafico (which is a little bird similar to a warbler or quail, literally means beak figs). These were little birds called so because they liked to beak figs. In  ancient times Sicilian Nobles used to hunt and eat them. They said that their  meat was nice and tender so they were eating them with all the guts.


The poor people having more sardines than birds started to cook them adding some lemon and orange juice to the filling, to mitigate the strong smell and taste of the fish.


Ingredients and preparation for 4 people:
500 gr fresh sardines

200 gr breadcrumbs
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
50 gr raisins
50 gr pine nuts
Juice and zest of one lemon (or if preferred half lemon and half orange)
20-22 bay leaves

Clean the sardines and remove the backbone. In a pan on a low heat, brown the breadcrumbs with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and remove from heat as soon as it gets golden. Add raisins, pine nuts, lemon zest. Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil, then start filling the sardines, each at a time.


Once you had put the mix roll it up very carefully, because they are extremely delicate and easy to break.Put a leaf of bay to separate each roll and if you prefer stick a small wooden stick on each roll.

Mix the sugar with the lemon juice (or lemon and orange juices) and sprinkle on the fish to moisten and perfume the dish before baking it.

Now bake in a preheated oven (180°C) for about 10-15 minutes. It is a perfect starter or a great side-dish, hot or cold it doesn't matter, you are going to love and enjoy it!!!!

Sardines meatballs in tomato sauce, what a dish!

Do you know how to cook fish meatballs? It is a delicious specialty all Sicilian called "Polpette di Sarde". This recipe is something I love to eat during winter and fortunately my father, who is very good at, prepared it few days ago. Basically they are meatballs but done with fresh sardines, which means a lot heavier and a lot healthier.

Here comes the recipe: 

You will need 500 gr. sardines - 100 gr.grated pecorino cheese - 100 gr sultanas - 50 gr pine nuts - breadcrumb - parsley or fresh mint - oil of olive - salt - pepper - tomato sauce

First, you need to wash the fish and getting rid of head, bones and tail. Then, cut it and put it in a bowl together with the pecorino cheese, the sultanas, the pine nuts and the parsley (or mint) finely chopped. 
Add also salt, pepper and the breadcrumb (about 4-5 spoons) until the mix is quite solid.

Now in a pan, put half bottle of tomato sauce, add salt and sugar and a pinch of cinnamon as well. Let heat the sauce, when it's hot you can do your little balls and place them inside the sauce being careful not to break them in pieces.

Put the heat at the minimum, the lid on the pan and let them cook for about 20-25 minutes. Finally add a couple of spoons of extra virgin olive oil. Serve hot with some slices of rustic bread. You will have a delicious, healthy Sicilian dinner. Enjoy!