Spaghetti with sardines and Sicilian breadcrumbs

  • medium
  • 4
  • 60 minutes
Not yet rated

Ciccio Sultano serves up a stunning spaghetti recipe with marinated sardines and 'Sicilian breadcrumbs' – a punchy mixture of anchovy, olive and caper.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Marinated sardines

  • sardine fillets, 20–25 depending on size
  • 1/2 garlic clove, bashed
  • 2 sprigs of parsley, chopped
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 sprig of oregano, leaves picked
  • 1 red chilli, cut in half lengthways
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 200ml of hot water

Pasta sauce

To serve

  • 300g of spaghetti, fresh
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced
  • 1 sprig of oregano, leaves picked
  • 1 sprig of basil, leaves picked and sliced
  • salt
  • extra virgin olive oil

Equipment

  • Blender

Method

1
To begin, mix together all the marinade ingredients for the sardines in a bowl then add the sardines. Leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours, or overnight
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1/2 garlic clove, bashed
  • 2 sprigs of parsley, chopped
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 sprig of oregano, leaves picked
  • 1 red chilli, cut in half lengthways
  • 200ml of hot water
  • sardine fillets, 20–25 depending on size
2
To make the Sicilian breadcrumbs, combine all of the ingredients and slowly fry in a pan until dried out. Transfer to a blender and blitz to a fine crumb
  • 50g of capers, chopped
  • 150g of stale bread, chopped
  • 100g of passata
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 3 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 sprig of oregano, leaves picked
  • 50g of black olives, chopped
  • 50g of anchovies, chopped
3
To make the tomato sauce, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the tomatoes. Once the skins are just starting to wrinkle, plunge into iced water to stop the cooking process, then peel the tomatoes
4
Remove the seeds from the tomatoes then add the remaining flesh to a pan and cook over a low heat with a garlic clove. Stir gently over a low heat for 10 minutes, then add to a blender and blitz to a purée. Season to taste
  • pepper
  • 1 garlic clove
  • salt
5
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
6
Cook the fresh pasta in salted boiling water for 3–4 minutes or until al dente. Meanwhile, drain the sardines and cook in the hot oven for 2 minutes
7
Toss the fresh basil, oregano, sliced red chilli and salt with the drained pasta and arrange on top of the sauce in a bowl. Top with the sardines and Sicilian breadcrumbs and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 sprig of basil, leaves picked and sliced
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced
  • 1 sprig of oregano, leaves picked
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

Discover more about this region's cuisine:

One of Sicily’s best-loved chefs, Ciccio Sultano has travelled as far as New York to hone his craft. Now back home, Ciccio’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant Duomo is the standard bearer for Sicilian haute cuisine, attracting diners from far and wide to the city of Ragusa.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.

You may also like

Load more