Sarde a Beccafico: Stuffed with Bread and Raisins
Sarde a Beccafico: The Taste of the Sea with Bread and Raisin Stuffing
Sarde a Beccafico is a typical Sicilian dish that expresses all the tradition and flavour of the Mediterranean. This dish is a perfect combination of the taste of the sea, given by the fresh sardines, and the sweet-and-sour taste of the filling, made with breadcrumbs, sultanas, pine nuts and aromatic herbs. Originally inspired by aristocratic cuisine, this recipe has become a symbol of popular cuisine, thanks to its simplicity and richness of flavour.
Ingredients
- 500 g of fresh sardines cleaned and opened (without bones)
- 150 g of breadcrumbs
- 50 g of sultanas
- 50 g of pine nuts
- 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 50 g of grated pecorino cheese optional
- 1 bunch of chopped parsley
- 4 bay leaves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preparing sardines
- First, we have to clean the sardines thoroughly. We ask the fishmonger to fillet them and open them 'by the book', or we can do it at home by removing the head, guts and central spine, but keeping the two fillets attached. Rinse them under running water and gently dry them with paper towels.
- Preparing the filling
- In a frying pan, heat a little extra virgin olive oil and toast the breadcrumbs until golden and crispy. Add the chopped garlic, pine nuts and sultanas (previously soaked in warm water for about 10 minutes and then drained). Stir well to flavour all the ingredients.
- Add chopped parsley, grated pecorino cheese (if using it), and season with salt and pepper. The result will be a fragrant and slightly crunchy filling. Let it cool slightly before proceeding with the assembly of the sardines.
- Stuffing sardines
- We take an open sardine and place a spoonful of stuffing in the centre of each fillet. Roll the sardine on itself, starting from the tail towards the head, and secure the rolls with a toothpick. We repeat the operation until all the sardines are used up.
- Assembly in the pan
- We arrange the rolled sardines in an oven dish or baking tray, placing them vertically and alternating them with bay leaves, which add flavour during cooking. We sprinkle the sardines with a mixture of lemon juice, white wine vinegar and sugar, which will give the dish its classic sweet-and-sour flavour.
- Baking
- Drizzle the sardines with a little extra virgin olive oil and bake at 180°C for about 20-25 minutes, until the sardines are golden brown and well cooked. The sweet and sour will caramelise slightly, enhancing the flavours of the fish and the filling.
- Service
- Once cooked, Sarde a Beccafico are ready to be served. This dish can be enjoyed either hot or at room temperature, and goes perfectly with a fresh fennel salad or a side dish of grilled vegetables. For a finishing touch, we can garnish with some fresh parsley leaves and lemon wedges.
- Variants
- In some regional variations in Sicily, sardines can be arranged in a baking dish without being rolled, simply alternating with layers of stuffing. There are also versions where tomato sauce is used to further enrich the dish. Each of these variants maintains the typical sweet-and-sour character of Sarde a Beccafico.
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