How good are the Palermo style sarde a beccafico, right? If you’ve been to Sicily sometime, you’ve probably heard of them.
A dish originally consumed by the nobility and they were indeed little birds called beccafico.
The less affluent made a similar dish that they could afford using eggplants and then sardines, a very popular and very cheap fish that still today has won the palate of tourists too.
The Palermo style sarde a beccafico are easy to prepare, a stuffing with sweet notes thanks to pine nuts and raisins, which, expertly mixed with breadcrumbs and a few other ingredients, creates a perfect blend of flavors.
Of course, every place you go, you find different versions of sarde a beccafico, indeed, because just by taking a tour, you find many versions, but we immediately go after the photo to discover the recipe for these traditional Palermo style sarde a beccafico.
Below I leave you more beccafico ideas and more!!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Palermo style Sarde a beccafico
- 1.1 lbs sardines (whole already cleaned)
- as needed bay leaves
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 oz raisins
- 2 anchovies in oil
- 1 oz pine nuts
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- as needed black pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsps orange juice
Preparation of Palermo style Sarde a beccafico
To prepare the Palermo style Sarde a beccafico, if you haven’t bought them already cleaned and opened, start by removing the head.
Do this gently, then open from the belly and remove the internal bone, leaving the tail.
Wash them and dry them with absorbent paper.
Soak the raisins in a little warm water.
In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and then toast the breadcrumbs.
Stir often to avoid burning it.
Once the breadcrumbs are toasted, finely chop the parsley and anchovy fillets.
Place the breadcrumbs, parsley, and anchovy fillets in a bowl, add salt and pepper.
Incorporate the drained and squeezed raisins along with the pine nuts and sugar, and mix well to blend the flavors.
Now you have everything ready, so take the sardines, placing them on a cutting board well open, and stuff them with a bit of filling on each sardine.
Roll them starting from the head and arrange them gradually inside a baking dish greased with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Stuff all the sardines and place them close together in the baking dish; when you are done, place a bay leaf between each sardine.
Preheat the oven to 392°F in static mode, sprinkle the sardines with the remaining filling.
Emulsify the orange juice with the honey and extra virgin olive oil and distribute it over the top.
Cook the sarde a beccafico on the middle shelf of the oven for at least 20/25 minutes.
Serve them still hot.
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How to store Sarde a beccafico
You can store them in the refrigerator well closed in an airtight container for 2 days.
Other recipes
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