Pasta con le Sarde

Blanch the fennel

Boil the wild fennel fronds in salted water until tender, then lift out and chop, keeping the fennel water in the pot.

Soak the raisins

Soak the raisins in warm water to plump them up.

Soften the onion

In a pan, cook the chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent.

Melt in the anchovy

Add the anchovy fillets to the onion and stir until they dissolve into the oil.

Add sardines and aromatics

Add the sardine fillets, chopped fennel, drained raisins, pine nuts and saffron, and cook gently, breaking the sardines apart, for ten minutes.

Cook the bucatini

Boil the bucatini in the reserved fennel water until al dente, then drain.

Toss and top

Toss the bucatini through the sardine sauce, plate, and finish with a scatter of toasted breadcrumbs.