Sarde a beccafico – Sicilian stuffed sardines
Sicilian sardines are prized across Italy, and this sarde a beccafico recipe sees the fish stuffed with raisins, pine nuts and breadcrumbs before being baked until golden and crisp.
Sarde a beccafico are butterflied sardines stuffed with a mix of breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins and herbs, then rolled up and baked in between fresh bay leaves. Is there anything more heavenly-sounding than that?
The dish is named after a peculiar and prized species of bird, the beccafico. It feeds on wild figs and used to be hunted and consumed by the Sicilian aristocracy. The beccafico was replaced in this dish by sardines, the tails of which resemble that of the bird.
As with many regional Italian dishes, there are as many recipes for sarde a beccafico as there are Sicilian households. Indeed every major Sicilian town has a slightly different way of preparing them, either in the combination of ingredients or in the way the fish is stuffed and layered.
The version below is typical of Palermo, and showcases a sweet and savoury mix of ingredients that is much loved in the region.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 800g of whole sardines, cleaned, scaled, butterflied, head and spine bone removed
- 50g of fine breadcrumbs
- extra virgin olive oil, as needed
- 25g of raisins, soaked in warm water
- 25g of pine nuts
- 1 tbsp of caster sugar
- 4 tbsp of parsley, finely chopped
- 60ml of orange juice, freshly squeezed
- fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- bay leaves, (fresh) for layering
Method
Get in touch
Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.
You may also like
SITES
