'Pasta con l'anciova', breadcrumb is the secret!

Do you know how to make one of our most renowned plate of pasta? It's what we call "pasta cu l'anciova" which means pasta with anchovy, plus tomato puree as the main ingredients. When you will prepare it you will smell the parfum of Sicily!!!

Ingredients & preparation for 4 people:

400 gr - pasta (better if Margherite) - 150 gr tomato puree or extract - 1 clove of garlic - 5-6 anchovies - 6 spoons of breadcrumb - extra virgin olive oil - *Perfect for vegeterians as well!

First of all, you probably know already that we have tons of different shapes of pasta. For this specific one we don't use normal spaghetti, but the so-called "Margherite" which are long, thick, half straight and half curly. They are cute and funny!

So, let's start with putting on the pot for the pasta as usual. For preparing the sauce, take a sauce pan, put it on a medium heat with a drizzle of oil of olive and a clove of garlic. After a minute put the anchovies and with a a wooden scoop or a spatula cut them into tiny pieces until they are completely melted. Now it's time to add the tomato puree, which is usually quite dense and thick. Use the same wooden tool.

In the meantime if the water is boiling, salt it and drop the pasta in (if you don't find the margherite just use spaghetti or penne). With a dipper pour some water pasta in the sauce to help the puree melt easier and quicker. You will see that it will look like a proper sauce in few moments.

The amount of water that you had depends on the rest of the ingredients, especially the tomato extract so be careful in balancing because we don't want the sauce neither too dense (remember that we have to add the breadcrumb) nor too watery.

Once the sauce is done put a frying pan on a high heat with 5 or 6 spoons of breadcrumbs, add some olive oil and start mixing the two with a spoon, stirring continuously as we don't want to burn the breadcrumb on a side.

This is very important because it will substitute the usual grated cheese that we normally put on pasta dishes. Little bit of story: The origin is obviously a poor one, infact people in ancient times couldn't afford to buy cheese to put on pasta, so they created this solution that was definetely cheaper!!!

Ok, everything is ready now, drain the pasta and mix it well with the sauce.
If you are uncertain about the quantity of sauce I would say: better to be abundant in this specific case, because as I said before we don't want to eat something that is too dry. Now do the dishes adding a little bit of what we call "muddica atturrata", which is the toasted breadcrumb.

Tip: To avoid the sauce from being too dense and dry, better to leave aside (for example in a mug or cup) some water where the pasta has cooked that you can add on your need. To serve it properly place the breadcrumb into a boat that you normally use for gravy and enjoy!!!

"Pasta ch' i sardi" one of the most famous Sicilian dishes in the world

Do you know how to prepare the famous Sicilian pasta with sardines? First of all let's specify that in Sicily we learn that the period for fishing and eating sardines is during the months that have a "R letter". (In Italian are February, March, April, September, October, November, December).

Said that you should know that the main ingredients of this dish are: sardines and wild fennel. As I always write about very traditional dishes it's very common to find different versions of the same dish, depending on which province of Sicily you are from, but also on the individual family tradition.

On the whole, I would say that there are two main recipes for this pasta: the red one and the white one. What does it mean? It means the version with the tomato paste and the version with saffron instead.

Ingredients & preparation for 4 people: 

- 400 gr. bucatini (long and thick shaped pasta like in the pic above)

- 250 gr. fresh sardines

- 400 gr. wild fennel

- 5 anchovy fillets

- 30 gr. sultanas

- 30 gr. pine nuts

- olive oil

- a small onion thinly chopped

- salt

- 6 ts of breadcrumbs

- 20 gr. saffron powder (for the white/yellow version)

- tomato puree or concentrated tomato extract (for the red version)

1. Wash sardines well under running water. Then wash also fennel and boil it in a large pot with salted water. Once it is cooked, drain it but do not eliminate the water. On a cutting board chop the fennel thinly and leave it aside.

2. In a sauce pan put a drizzle of olive oil on a medium heat, add the chopped onion and let it brown for a couple of minutes.
Add the anchovy fillets cutting it in small pieces using a wooden scoop or spatula just like in the pic on the right. They have to melt and become a paste.

3. Then put sultanas and pine nuts mixing all together.

4. Take half the quantity of the sardines, (leaving out the ones that are not broken that will be used after) and mix them in the sauce in small pieces too.

5. At this point add the saffron if you are doing the white/yellow version, or add some tomato puree if you prefer the red one (pic on the left). It's important to melt the concentrated tomato that has to become again a sort of paste. You can put a bit of fennel water to help melt the tomato puree.

6. Finally put the chopped fennel in the pan, together with a dipper full of the water in which has cooked. Mix well and place on top of the fennel the remaining sardines that should all be in one-pieces.

7. Let cook the sauce with a lit for about 10-15 minutes on a low heat. (Picture below)




8. In the meantime cook the pasta (bucatini or ziti) in the remaining fennel water as usual and drain it. If the water is not enough for all the pasta add some more water but remember to check the pasta on salt before draining it.

9. While pasta is cooking, in a small frying pan on a medium heat prepare the breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil and stir the two ingredients until they become homogeneous and kind of dark brown in color (but not burnt).

10. Now you can either place it on a serving dish covering it with all the condiment and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and eat it as it is or doing the same process but placing it on a oven tray and bake it for about 10 minutes at a temperature of 200° C. Serve hot.

Close your eyes for a second and enjoy the great Sicilian taste, the earth and the sea forever bond!

Mezze penne with broad beans and ricotta cheese

Do you know how to cook a plate of pasta with fresh broad beans (or fava beans) and ricotta cheese? Here in Sicily we love mixing vegetables with cheese. For 4 people you will need: 400 gr pasta (penne or mezze penne) - 1onion - 150 gr. broad beans - olive oil - salt - ricotta cheese - grated cheese


First of all, you need to shell the broad beans. In a sauce pan on a medium heat put a drizzle of olive oil, then chop and sautè the onion with the oil. Add a big pinch of salt and the broad beans. After about 6-7 minutes add some warm water (2 cups). Cover with the lit and let cook for other 20 minutes on a low heat. When the fava beans are cooked remove them from the heater and put on a larger pan for cooking the pasta, on a high heat.


As soon as the water boils add salt and put the penne (or mezzepenne) in the boiling water. Cook them until "al dente" (or 2 minutes more if preferred), just following the instructions written on the packet. Then drain and transfer them on serving plates mixing also the broad beans.


Once the plate is ready put some fresh ricotta cheese on top. Many people love to add some grated cheese as well, such as caciocavallo or parmesan. The taste of this kind of pasta is very good and delicate and is healthy too. Enjoy!

Caserecce with broccoli and red pepper

Separate broccoli into stem and florets and wash them under running water, then chop them in small pieces. In a pan under a medium heat boil the broccoli in salted water until become very soft. In the meantime in a sauce pan do the "soffritto": some extra virgin oil of olive and a clove of garlic, then sautè the boiled broccoli there, adding a piece of hot pepper.

Cook the caserecce (or the spaghetti if preferred) in the water of the broccoli until "al dente", then drain them and put in serving plates with the broccoli sauce. Add some grated parmesan and voilà... this delicious pasta is ready. Enjoy!

Spaghetti with dried tuna roe, the famous "Bottarga di tonno"

Do you know what the famous "Bottarga" is? And how do you cook it with pasta? "Bottarga di tonno" is basically the roe of the tuna, first dried and then grated. Here in Sicily having pasta with the tuna roe is a real deliciousness and is a very quick dish to prepare as well!

You will need: spaghetti - oil of olive - garlic - fresh parsley - bottarga di tonno (tuna roe) - red hot pepper.

Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling water, lightly salted, following the packet instructions, until "al dente". In the meantime in a sauce pan do the "soffritto" which means: put some extra virgin oil of olive and a clove of garlic until it becomes kind of golden brown colour. Chop the parsley and mix it in the oil. Add some boiling water from the spagnetti pan and finally a small piece of hot pepper.

When the spaghetti are ready drain them and mix them with the sauce made of oil and parsley. Then serve them sprinkled with abundant bottarga on top, just like in the picture.

It is a lovely pasta and very easy to cook. Enjoy!