We’ve come to a fair few of these grandmothers through friends of friends. Fina came through our good pal, Stefano. Over the course of a few weeks and months, we’d managed to contact Fina’s niece, (texting her in our broken Italian), who then went back and forth between Fina and her own daughter, to pin down a recipe and date and time upon which we could visit her.
Eventually we set out to road- trip through Sicily across two weeks in September, three grannies in our diary. So excited were we for our granny hat-trick, that the night before meeting Fina, upon landing in Palermo, we set out for aperitivos. One negroni led to another and while one of us didn’t make it home until 5 a.m., the other didn’t make it back to the hotel at all.
Still, we are dedicated to our granny mission. We showed up to Nonna Fina’s with time to spare, albeit a little bleary-eyed. She cared for us as our grandmothers would have, with a plateful of comfort food and a wry, knowing smile that said, ‘I’ve been there. I know you better than you know yourselves.’
This rich, sweet-savoury pasta dish was exactly what we needed and by our second helping, we’d all but forgotten our throbbing temples. The formaggio povero (poor man’s parmesan) – essentially fried breadcrumbs – added texture and depth of flavour and was an essential finishing touch to soak up the alcohol.
Feeds 4
Takes 40 minutes
Ingredients
175g fennel, finely sliced
1 shallot, finely diced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tinned anchovies
60g raisins
60g pine nuts
350g sardines, de-headed and chopped up
2 tbsp tomato purée
100ml white wine
Pinch caster of sugar (optional)
400g bucatini pasta
squeeze of lemon (optional)
For the povero cheese (crispy breadcrumbs)
125g breadcrumbs
glug of olive oil
Method
Gently boil your fennel until soft (about 5 minutes) then leave in the water to soak until it’s needed.
Fry the shallot in the oil on a medium–low heat until translucent and starting to turn golden.
Add the anchovies to fry with the shallot – these will almost dissolve as they cook and add a salty kick.
Once the anchovies have broken down, add the raisins and pine nuts, swiftly followed by the fresh sardines, tomato purée and white wine.
Drain the cooked fennel over a jug, reserving the water. Add the fennel to the pan.
Add a pinch of sugar (if using), a hefty grind of salt and black pepper. Stir your sauce to combine and use the fennel water to just cover the ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Turn to a low heat and cover. Once the oil has risen to the surface and the layer of foam has cleared, that’s when your sauce is ready – this should take about 10–15 minutes. It should be a loose and saucy consistency.
When this happens, put your salted water on for your the pasta. Fina uses bucatini pasta – the hole running through the middle is perfect for catching the sauce, but feel free to use whichever you prefer.
While the pasta cooks, begin to toast the breadcrumbs in a non-stick frying pan. Add a good glug of olive oil and disperse across the breadcrumbs by stirring. Keep stirring for about 2 mins minutes, or until they turn golden. Season as you like.
When the pasta is al dente, drain and toss with the sauce and serve with a squeeze of lemon and the breadcrumbs scattered over the top.