EN
EN IT

Beccafico Sardines

Sardine a beccafico is a typical second course of Sicilian gastronomy, particularly from Palermo and Messina. The combination of flavours in this dish makes it a particularly tasty dish. The sardine rolls are stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and sultanas.

Made in Sicily

Recipe

TIME80 Minutes
DIFFICULTY
DOSES4 People

Ingredients

  • Sardines 520 g
  • Alloro q.b.
  • Parsley 10 g
  • Anchovies in oil 15 g
  • Breadcrumbs 50 g
  • Extra virgin olive oil 30 g.
  • Sale q.b.
  • Uvetta 25 g
  • Pine nuts 25 g
  • Sugar 15 g
  • Black pepper q.b.
  • Succo d’arancia 35 g
  • Miele di acacia 35 g

Preparation

To prepare sarde a beccafico, first make sure the sardines are already cleaned. To prepare the filling, start by rinsing the sultanas and soaking them in cold water for about ten minutes. Next, pour a little oil into a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and toast them for a couple of minutes over a medium flame, stirring continuously.

Meanwhile, chop the parsley and coarsely chop the anchovies. In a bowl, pour the breadcrumbs, drained and squeezed sultanas, pine nuts, anchovies, parsley, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Grease a 20×20 cm baking dish and stuff the sardines. Add a little stuffing to each sardine and roll it up, starting from the head, to form a roulade. Arrange the rolled sardines inside the baking dish in an orderly fashion, making sure they are close together. Take the bay leaves and place them between the rolls.

At this point, sprinkle the surface with the leftover stuffing. Prepare the emulsion by quickly mixing the honey, orange juice and oil in a small bowl, then spread the mixture over the sardines using a spoon. Bake in a static oven preheated to 200°C for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.