Pasta With Sardines, Bread Crumbs and Capers
- Total Time
- About 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Salt
- ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½cup bread crumbs, ideally made from stale bread
- 1onion, chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1pound long pasta, like perciatelli
- 1teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2tablespoons drained capers
- 2cans sardines packed in extra virgin olive oil (about ½ pound)
- ½cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
486 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 21 grams protein; 374 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put half the oil (2 tablespoons) in a medium skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, less than 5 minutes, and then remove. Add the remaining oil and the onion to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until just tender; drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Turn the heat under the onions to medium-high and add the lemon zest, capers and sardines; cook, stirring occasionally, until just heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the pasta to the sardine mixture and toss well to combine. Add the parsley, most of the bread crumbs and some reserved water, if necessary, to moisten. Taste and adjust seasoning, garnishing with more parsley and bread crumbs.
Private Notes
Comments
I have made this pasta practically weekly since I first tried it. So good. My husband and I like to add red pepper flakes to the oil and onions to give it some kick. Squeezing lemon juice on top at the end is also delicious.
A real favorite in our house, but we start with a quality can of anchovies and their oil and sub chopped fennel for the onions, raisins soaked in grappa for the capers and a pinch of saffron. Fry the sardines in their own oil in a small skillet until heated through. Add cooked pasta to the anchovy, raisin fennel mix with a little pasta water and toss until pasta is glazed and moist, top with bread crumbs, whole sardines and chopped fennel tops. I use strozzapretti - denser and more toothsome.
I used high quality Spanish sardines in olive oil from Matiz Gallego. They add a richness and depth of flavor very like that of Nero Di Seppi, and my wife who is usually a little leary of this type of dish liked it a lot. It needed nothing but a squirt of fresh lemon juice and seems like it would be great with a chilled dry white wine.
This dish is traditionally served in many parts of Italy on Festa di San Giuseppe, or Saint Joseph’s Day, on March 19. St. Joseph is the patron saint of Italy and so his feast is when Fathers Day is celebrated there. His feast day always falls during Lent, so no meat can be served but fish is ok. Since St. Joseph was a carpenter, the bread crumbs represent sawdust from his workshop.
Used canned mackerel by mistake but delicious anyway. Added a pound of asparagus because it’s everywhere right now. Works!
I’ve been making Rachael Ray’s version of this for years - it is a simpler version and very good. My husband had to pull together dinner tonight, I suggested breadcrumb pasta since we had sardines on hand. He googled and found this recipe. It turned out great despite the fact he used anchovies instead of sardines. We didn’t realize the mistake until later when I was taking out the recycling and saw the anchovy tins and no sardine tins.
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