Preparation

• I buy already filleted sardines at the fresh fish counter or loose by weight at the freezer counter.
  If you buy them frozen, move them to the fridge the night before cooking.

  Clean and debone the sardines if you bought them whole.

  Rinse the filleted sardines under water, let them drain well.
  Pat the remaining water with kitchen paper towels.
  They must be very dry.

  

• Take the sardines out of the fridge at least half an hour before cooking.

  Onion
  Peel the onion, remove the ends, and finely chop it with a knife.

  Anchovies
  Drain the anchovies well and let them dry on a kitchen paper towel.
  Break them into pieces with a fork.

  Pine Nuts
  Wrap a handful of pine nuts in parchment paper, and with the help of a mortar or meat mallet and chopping board, reduce them to coarse pieces.

• Wild Fennel
  Clean the wild fennel by selecting and cutting shoots, leaves, and the most tender part of the stem.
  Wash it thoroughly.
  In a pot, bring water to a boil.
  Add the wild fennel and blanch for 2-3 minutes.
  Keep the water in which you blanched the wild fennel aside for cooking the pasta.
  Transfer the blanched wild fennel to a colander and let it drain well.
  Pat it with paper towels.
  Separate the tufts and cut the stems into pieces.
  You need the equivalent of a handful.

  Liquid
  In a graduated glass, pour:
  • 7 tbsp of water;
  • a pinch of salt;
  • a packet of saffron;
  • a vegetable bouillon cube;
  • the wild fennel;
  and mix until the bouillon cube and wild fennel dissolve if you use frozen wild fennel.

  

• Bread Crumbs [optional]
  In a small pan, toast the whole wheat breadcrumbs, be careful: the whole wheat breadcrumbs are already dark in color.

  

• In a casserole, pour:
  • the chopped onion;
  • the broken anchovies;
  • the crushed pine nuts;
  and let them wilt and toast for a few seconds.
  Deglaze with a shot of white wine.

  Arrange the sardine fillets in the casserole.
  Let them brown for a few minutes.
  Pour the liquid over the sardine fillets.
  Cook until the sardine fillets turn white.

  Turn off the heat and add:
  • a pinch of salt;
  • a pinch of pepper;
  • a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce as needed to taste;
  mix and shred the sardine fillets to the desired size.

  

• Cook the pasta in the water where you blanched the wild fennel if you kept it aside, rinse it under running water and drain it.
  In the meantime, heat the condiment for the sardine pasta.
  Pour the pasta into the casserole with the condiment for the sardine pasta.
  Off the heat, drizzle with a bit of oil and mix.

  Plate.
  Distribute the breadcrumbs [optional].
  Grind some more pepper.

  Your simple fresh sardine pasta in white is ready.

  Enjoy your meal.