Pasta With Sardines, Bread Crumbs and Capers Recipe (2024)

I have made this pasta practically weekly since I first tried it. So good. My husband and I like to add red pepper flakes to the oil and onions to give it some kick. Squeezing lemon juice on top at the end is also delicious.

I used high quality Spanish sardines in olive oil from Matiz Gallego. They add a richness and depth of flavor very like that of Nero Di Seppi, and my wife who is usually a little leary of this type of dish liked it a lot. It needed nothing but a squirt of fresh lemon juice and seems like it would be great with a chilled dry white wine.

A real favorite in our house, but we start with a quality can of anchovies and their oil and sub chopped fennel for the onions, raisins soaked in grappa for the capers and a pinch of saffron. Fry the sardines in their own oil in a small skillet until heated through. Add cooked pasta to the anchovy, raisin fennel mix with a little pasta water and toss until pasta is glazed and moist, top with bread crumbs, whole sardines and chopped fennel tops. I use strozzapretti - denser and more toothsome.

Great recipe. I would NOT use a whole pound of pasta next time, half would do just fine, especially if it needs to be eaten fresh. I only had one can of sardines and that was fine for the amount I made. Would squeeze some fresh lemon juice at the end.

This was my father's and Nonno's favourite dish every Christmas Eve, as we celebrated a meatless meal and had 7 variations of fish at the table. This dish goes way back to when people had very little. It is also very well known in Calabria as well as Sicily. The only ingredient missing from this recipe is the grated Parmigiano Reggiano or grated Pecorino Cheese. I suppose it depends on how rich you want it to taste. Thank you for the memory.

Worked out great! Possible future additions would be: roasted cherry tomatoes, garlicky breadcrumbs, lemon juice, chopped kalamata...

I don't want to be biased, but Portuguese sardines are the best, by far!

I just bought a tin of Matiz Espana sardines ("wild caught in the waters of the eastern Atlantic") only to learn from Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch: "Steer clear of Atlantic sardines from the Mediterranean region." It is on their "Avoid" list because "The status of many populations is unknown, and others are depleted with overfishing still occurring." Other listed concerns: associated by catch, ineffective fishery mgmt, sardines are forage fish for larger predators.

Please do elevate this dish with a couple of anchovies

Delicious! I used about 3/4 lb of fresh sardines, cleaned boned and chopped, along with 1 can of sardines, lots of parsley, a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and threw in about 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts. Toasted bread crumbs from a stale baguette. Wonderful meal!

1 pound pasta, especially a thick pasta like bucatini is much too much for this recipe. Should cut it to 1/2 pound. Crushed red pepper also gave it a nice kick.

If you don't like capers leave them out. If you don't like sardines, use tuna in olive oil --- it's delicious with pasta.Double all the other ingredients with one pound of pasta.

Breadcrumbs made from sourdough bread makes gives this an extra layer. Of course you have to make the sourdough bread first...

I sautee a fennel bulb and some onions and mix in with the rest.

Pretty quick and tasty. Sprinkled each bowl with chopped preserved lemon. Next time will cut pasta amount in half, or double all other ingredients, and will add some lemon juice to each bowl.

This was quick, easy, and delicious…I added some lemon juice but otherwise followed the recipe as written.

Couple slight modifications, but this is a great recipe. I’ve been replacing breadcrumbs with crispy, seasoned and then food processed chickpeas. I cook the veggie in it sardine oil. And a parsley I add a little bit of pecorino and some preserve lemon.

Generally liked this, but needed some tweaks. I grated 1 garlic clove into the breadcrumbs and slivered 2 more into the onions. Definitely needed some more lemon at the end. I only used the breadcrumbs as a topping so they stayed crisp.

For that amount of pasta I would double the breadcrumbs, oil and sardines. Or halve the amount of pasta like others have said here. Making it according to directions yields a dry, slightly bland dish.

Wonderful recipe! Like many others here we add garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes to the onions as they're sautéing, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end. But I think the most important change that really improves the dish is to not add any of the bread crumbs to the pasta/sardine mixture in the pan - the pasta water and oil immediately make them soggy. Instead, save them all for sprinkling on top at the end!

What a surprise! We’ve never had sardines before and we were a little nervous about this, but wow - we loved this! I did add mushrooms because we love them. This will be made again and soon!

Great, easy to pull together meal. Added sautéed spinach and pan seared scallops to heighten the flavors. All the flavors melded well.

Made this earlier and I thought it was quick and tasty. It’s pretty heavy on the oil, so I did add some cherry tomatoes when adding the sardines and hit it with a few tablespoons of lemon juice for acidity. I’ll be adding this to my rotation for a low key, low effort meal.

We skip the breadcrumbs and use garbanzo bean pasta, and it works well gluten free this way. Like others, we add a little red pepper to the sardine/onion mix, and lemon juice at the end. I can't explain it, but I always feel my body appreciates this meal, aside from it being very good. We also have a green salad first.

Easy, cheap, hearty, nutritious meal. Would definitely make again. Made it with buckwheat soba noodles because it’s what I had on hand. Still delish. Lemon squeeze at the end helps. Served with side salad. Easy quick meal for dinner or wfh lunch.

Delicious combination. I followed the recipe the first time. The second time, I doubled the sardines, cooked the onions with a few anchovies, and added hot pepper. Even better.

I'm poor AF and used canned sardines, pasta, and tomatoes that were at the community food pantry. Still turned out great. Thanks for the affordable and delicious recipe!!

So good! I opted for red onion and added garlic and shallot (just a little of both). I also added Parmesan at the end! Next time, I would use a little less bread crumbs. So so satisfying though. Next time, I think I would sub the sardines for anchovies— might be risky, I could end up eating this every night ;)

This is always a pleasant surprise for simplicity and taste.

Another good batch of this recipe, this one with some toasted walnuts mixed into the breadcrumbs and some coins of zucchini added to the onions halfway through cooking.