You can see from the photos how simple it is to make Caponata Palermitana. Unlike its counterpart as made in Catania, this version has no peppers, but the rest of the ingredients and the preparation process for making any caponata remains largely the same.
No need for exact quantities—just like a true Italian!
For my version, I used 2 eggplants, cooking each one separately to avoid overcrowding in the frying pan. I believe in adding salt during the cooking process rather than at the end, which helps to enhance the flavors. And of course, I always opt for extra virgin olive oil to bring out the best in each ingredient. The beauty of caponata is in its flexibility, so feel free to adjust as you go!
A good heavy saucepan is good to use.
After the eggplants, sauté the onions and the celery (either separately or to save time sauté them together). I used 1 large onion, 2 sticks of celery (from the centre) and some of the tender leaves. Add some salt.
When the onions and celery have softened to your liking, add green olives and capers.
Make a space in the centre of the saucepan, add a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Melt it and add about a quarter of a cup of red vinegar. Evaporate it.
Make another space in the centre and add about 1/3 cup of passata.
Mix it and cook a little . You can see that there is very little liquid left.
Time to add the eggplants and combine all the ingredients.
This time I will decorate the caponata with fried breadcrumbs (day old bread – mollica) toasted in a frypan with a little olive oil.
I usually decorate the caponata with toasted pine nuts or chopped blanched almonds for added texture! However, I find that serving it with toasted bread crumbs brings a pleasurable crunch without overshadowing the eggplants’ rich flavor.
The eggplants are particularly fresh and of excellent quality in summer and autumn, making them perfect for this dish.
I opted for mint instead of basil this time, bringing a refreshing taste that really complements the other flavors but at the same time letting the richness of the eggplants shine through.
I also decided to go with mint instead of basil for a refreshing twist that complements the other flavors beautifully. It’s all about finding that balance, and these choices add a lovely nuance to the caponata!
There are numerous recipes for caponate (plural of caponata). Use the search button on my blog.
PASTA CON LE SARDE, an iconic Sicilian recipe from Palermo and it was the dish I prepared as a cooking presentation for the Slow Fish Festival Melbourne – Save Our Seafood, held in Spotswood–Kingsville.
Pasta Con Le Sarde. The pasta is BICATINI.
Pasta con le Sarde at the Slow Fish Festival Melbourne
To everyone who attended this successful event, thank you for your interest and enthusiasm. As promised, here is an updated version of the recipe and some additional information about the ingredients that make this classic Sicilian pasta so distinctive.
Pasta con le Sarde is one of Sicily’s most celebrated seafood dishes. Originating in Palermo, it combines fresh sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, currants, saffron and breadcrumbs in a harmonious balance of sweet and savoury flavours. It is a dish that reflects Sicily’s layered culinary history, shaped by Arab, Mediterranean and local traditions.
For those interested in the recipe itself, I have previously published two versions:
Pasta con le Sarde – the traditional Palermo-style version with wild fennel, pine nuts and currants.
Pasta con le Sarde al Forno – the baked version, a favourite for special occasions and family gatherings.
The Importance of Wild Fennel
Wild fennel (finocchietto selvatico) is one of the defining ingredients of Pasta con le Sarde. Its delicate aniseed flavour perfumes both the sauce and the cooking water used for the pasta.
Wild fennel plant.
In Sicily, wild fennel grows abundantly in the countryside and along roadsides during spring.
Traditionally, cooks harvest the tender shoots, boil them, and then use both the fennel and the aromatic cooking liquid in the preparation of the dish.
Packing wild fennel for the winter season – used to flavour the pasta water.
To preserve its flavour for use throughout the year, Sicilians often freeze the cooked fennel. or dry the seeds.
Wild fennel shoots.
They also dry the seeds.
Extra flavour with sachet of fennel seeds. It can be removed when you also remove the boiled wild fennel.
Wild Fennel in Sicilian Markets
During the fennel season, bunches of freshly harvested wild fennel are sold in markets throughout Sicily.
Wild fennel sold in bunches at Catania Market.
Whether in Palermo, Catania or smaller country towns, the sight of market stalls overflowing with fennel is a reminder of the strong connection between Sicilian cooking and seasonal produce.
The fragrance alone is enough to evoke memories of traditional home cooking.
As promised, here is an update of the recipe Pasta con le Sarde I cooked at this event.
A Dish That Tells Sicily’s Story
Pasta con le Sarde is much more than a pasta dish. It reflects Sicily’s history and cultural influences.
The combination of sardines, wild fennel, currants and pine nuts illustrates the Arab contribution to Sicilian cuisine, while the use of fresh local seafood speaks of the island’s enduring relationship with the Mediterranean Sea.
Like many traditional dishes, it is a recipe that varies from family to family, yet remains unmistakably Sicilian.
Flavouring the pasta water and the boiled wild fennel.
From Pasta to Timballo
One of the pleasures of Pasta con le Sarde is that leftovers can be transformed into another classic Sicilian dish: timballo di pasta.
The pasta is layered or baked in a mould and served as a substantial second meal. In many Sicilian households, yesterday’s pasta often becomes today’s timballo.
Timballo, made with left over Pasta con Sarde
Pasta con le Sarde and The Leopard
During my presentation, I also referred to the famous Sicilian novel The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
The novel, later adapted into the acclaimed film The Leopard by Luchino Visconti, captures the elegance, complexity and changing social landscape of nineteenth-century Sicily.
Like Pasta con le Sarde itself, the story is deeply rooted in Sicilian identity and tradition.
SICILIAN PLATE -Alessi
You will need a plate to serve it and this is what I used.
It is an Alessi Plate ( not THE Alessi, the Sicilian Alessi) They use old stencils, colours and images from the past to decorate their plates. I bought this in the premier pottery town in Sicily – Caltagirone. It is located in central Sicily between Catania and Ragusa,
Caponata has evolved over the ages to become a true symbol of Sicilian cuisine. It is cherished especially during festive occasions—making it a perfect dish for Christmas celebrations. As you might expect, there are countless regional variations and enhancements to what began as a humble dish.
The influence of Sicilian aristocracy played a significant role, with the chefs known as monzu—a term derived from the French monsieur—adding their unique flair and creativity. This blend of tradition and innovation has made caponata into an iconic, classic and traditional dish, showcasing the diverse flavours and culinary heritage of Sicily.
In this post I have included the version of caponata enriched with chocolate.
In Sicilian cooking, the melanzana (eggplant) is often referred to as the queen of vegetables, right behind the tomato in importance. This high status is well-deserved, as the eggplant is the principal ingredient in caponata, bringing depth and richness to the dish. The versatility and unique flavor of eggplants make it a standout component in many Sicilian recipes.
Below is a photo of two of the most popular types of Sicilian eggplants – the common very dark variety and the violetta – the violet variety. This is referred to as a sweet variety, it is not as seedy or bitter as its counterpart.
I like to keep my caponata di melanzane simple, though the possibilities for ingredient variations are endless. Some recipes incorporate garlic, while others might include oregano. You’ll find versions with anchovies, sultanas, or even pine nuts and toasted almonds—each of these variations are both authentic and delicious.
Staying true to the Palermo tradition, just before serving, I like to sprinkle a handful of coarse breadcrumbs (toasted in a bit of hot extra virgin olive oil) and/or chopped blanched and toasted almonds on top. This finishing touch adds a delightful crunch and enhances the dish’s overall texture, making it even more enjoyable.
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In my view, Peter Robb perfectly encapsulates the essence of Sicilian caponata in his book Midnight in Sicily. He vividly compares the caponata he enjoyed in Palermo with the version he had experienced in Naples. This comparison highlights the unique flavors and ingredients that define Sicilian cuisine with its its distinctive flavours within Italian gastronomy.
As Robb discovered: eggplant is the purple heart of Sicilian caponata – and it is the principal ingredient.
I realised caponata in Palermo was something very different. It was the colour that struck me first. The colour of darkness. A heap of cubes of that unmistakably luminescent dark, dark purply-reddish goldy richness, glimmerings from a baroque canvas, that comes from eggplant, black olives, tomato and olive oil densely cooked together, long and gently. The colour of southern Italian cooking. Caponata was one of the world’s great sweet and sour dishes, sweet, sour and savoury.
The eggplant was the heart of caponata. The celery hearts were the most striking component: essential and surprising. Pieces of each were fried separately in olive oil until they were a fine golden colour and then added to a sauce made by cooking tomato, sugar and vinegar with a golden chopped onion in oil and adding Sicilian olives, capers …….
CAPONATA DI MELANZANE CON CIOCCOLATA (Caponata with chocolate)
In Sicilian cuisine there are a number of recipes, which include chocolate to enrich the flavour of a dish (see HARE or RABBIT COOKED IN CHOCOLATE and chocolate in eggplant caponata is a common variation in certain parts of Sicily.
In the early 1500s, the Spanish conquistadors discovered a variety of unknown foods in the New World.Among these was xocolatl, (chocolate) obtained from ground cacao seeds. Spanish nobility arrived in Sicily during the 15th and 16th centuries and they brought their exotic ingredients from the New World to the island. This was also an ostentatious period of splendour and opulence for the clergy and the Sicilian aristocracy.
Although many traditional Sicilian dishes are said to be Spanish legacies, it is more accurate to say that some Sicilian cuisine incorporated both Sicilian and Spanish traditions.
Follow the recipe for eggplant caponata below and add good quality cocoa or/and dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa .
Cocoa: The majority of the recipes for caponata enriched with chocolate suggest the use of cocoa powder (about 2 tablespoons of cocoa to 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in a little water to form a thick paste). Add this mixture to the pan after you have made the agro dolce sauce and before you add the cooked vegetables.
Dark Chocolate: My most favoured alternative is to use 50g of dark, extra fine chocolate (organic, high cocoa content – 70%). Add the chocolate pieces into the agro dolce sauce and stir it gently as it melts, and then I add the cooked vegetables. This results into a much smoother and more luscious caponata.
In a modern Sicilian restaurant with a young chef, I was presented with an eggplant caponata where the chocolate was grated on top, much like grated cheese on pasta. A creative and successful alternative.
Process for making eggplant caponata
You will need a deep, large fry pan aand sometimes I use my wok. If you use a non-stick frypan you may not need as much oil, but the surface will not be as conducive to allowing the residue juices to form and caramelise as in a regular pan. (After food has been sautéed, the juices caramelise – in culinary terms this is known as fond. Non-stick pans do not produce as much fond).
Although the vegetables are fried separately, they are all incorporated in the same pan at the end. When making large quantities I sometimes use a wok.
extra virgin olive oil, ¾ cup (depending how much the vegetables will absorb)
eggplants, 3-4 large, dark skinned variety
onion 1, large, chopped
red tomatoes, 2 medium size, peeled and chopped or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a little water or some canned tomatoes
capers, ½ cup, salted or in brine
green olives, ¾ cup, stoned, chopped
celery, 2-3 tender stalks and the pale green leaves (both from the centre of the celery)
white, wine vinegar, ½ cup
sugar, 2 tablespoons
salt and freshly ground pepper
Cut the eggplant into cubes (approx 30mm) – do not peel. Place the cubes into abundant water with about 1 tablespoon of salt. Leave for about 30 minutes – this will keep the flesh white and remove any bitter juices while you prepare the other ingredients. Although it is not always necessary to do this, the eggplant is said to absorb less oil if soaked previously. You will need to weigh the eggplant down. I use a lid that is smaller than the basin to keep the eggplants submerged.
Prepare the capers – if they are the salted variety, ensure that they have been rinsed thoroughly and then soaked for about 30 minutes before use, and then rinsed again.
Chop the onion.
Slice the celery into very fine slices and chop the green leaves.
Peel, and coarsely chop the tomatoes (or use tomato paste or canned tomatoes).
Drain the eggplants and squeeze them to remove as much water as possible – I use a clean tea towel.
Heat a large frypan over medium heat with ½ cup of the extra virgin olive oil.
Add eggplant cubes and sauté until soft and golden (about 10-12 minutes). Place the drained eggplants into a large bowl and set aside (all of the vegetables will be added to this same bowl).
Drain the oil from the eggplants back into the same frypan and re-use this oil to fry the next ingredients. Sometimes I use a colander to drain the batches of eggplant and this makes it easier to return the drained oil into the frypan.
Add the celery and a little salt gently for 5-7 minutes, so that it retains some of its crispness (in more traditional recipes, the celery is always boiled until soft before being sautéed).
Remove the celery from the pan and add it to the eggplants.
Sauté the onion having added a little more oil to the frypan. Add a little salt and cook until translucent.
Add the tomatoes or the tomato paste (with a little water) to the onions, and allow their juice to evaporate.
Add the capers and olives. Allow these ingredients to cook gently for 1- 2 minutes.
Empty the contents of the frypan into the other cooked vegetables.
For the agro dolce sauce (sweet and sour sauce):
Add the sugar to the frypan (already coated with the caramelised flavours from the vegetables). Heat it very gently until it begins to melt and bubble. Add the vinegar and allow it to evaporate.
Incorporate the cooked vegetables into the frypan with the agro dolce sauce.
Add ground pepper, check for salt and add more if necessary.
Gently toss in all of the cooked ingredients over low heat for 2-3 minutes to blend the flavours.
Remove the caponata from the pan and cool before placing it into one or more containers. Store in the fridge till ready to use and remove it from the fridge about an hour before eating– it will keep well in the fridge for up to one week.
When ready to eat, sprinkle with either toasted almonds or toasted breadcrumbs. I like to add fresh basil or mint leaves.
In my first book, Sicilian Seafood Cooking there is whole chapter devoted to caponata. I have also written other posts with recipes on the blog :
Frittedda: A Traditional Sicilian Sauté of Spring Vegetables
Frittedda is one of Sicily’s finest celebrations of spring. This traditional Sicilian dish combines the season’s first artichokes, broad beans and peas, gently sautéed so that each vegetable retains its own distinctive texture and flavour—the sweetness of the peas, the slight bitterness of the artichokes and the delicate, nutty taste of the broad beans. Rather than a heavily cooked vegetable stew, frittedda is closer to a warm salad that showcases the freshness of the ingredients.
The Tradition of Frittedda in Sicily
In Sicily, frittedda is traditionally prepared in early spring (primavera), particularly around the Feast of San Giuseppe (19 March), when peas and broad beans first come into season. Although the dish is most closely associated with the north-west of the island, especially Palermo and Trapani, variations are also found in the farming districts of Caltanissetta, Enna and Agrigento, each reflecting local ingredients and traditions.
My Version of Frittedda
Because frittedda celebrates the arrival of spring, I enjoy adding fresh asparagus, although this is not part of the traditional recipe. I also occasionally add a small amount of good broth to deepen the flavour. Sicilian cooks rarely use stock, preferring to let the quality of their sun-ripened vegetables speak for themselves.
I think frittedda is best served at room temperature, much like caponata, where the flavours have had time to develop. It makes a wonderful antipasto with crusty bread, but it is equally delicious spooned over pasta for a simple spring meal.
Broad beans and small purple artichokesFrittedda
Regional Variations
Like many Sicilian dishes, frittedda changes from one province to another.
In Palermo, cooks often finish the dish with a light agrodolce of caramelised sugar and vinegar, like in the flavours of caponata.
In Enna, in the heart of Sicily, wild fennel is commonly added during cooking, giving the dish an aromatic flavour that reflects the island’s rural traditions.
White asparagus
Shelled fresh broad beans
FRITTEDDA
Ingredients
artichokes, about 3 young, tender
peas, 750g (250g, shelled weight)
broad beans, young, 1kg (these will result in about shelled 350g) The broad beans should be young and small — if they are not, (remove the outer peel of each bean)
asparagus (250g). Snap the bottoms from the asparagus and cut the spears into 2cm lengths
spring onions, 3-4, sliced thinly (including the green parts)
lemon, 1 for the acidulated water
extra virgin olive oil, about ½ cup
salt and pepper
white wine vinegar, ½ tablespoon or the juice of ½ lemon
sugar, about a teaspoon
fresh mint leaves, to sprinkle on top before serving
PROCESS
Prepare the artichokes by removing the tough outer leaves. Young artichokes can be difficult to find in Australia, so you may need to discard more leaves than you would in Sicily.
As you clean the artichokes, place them in acidulated water (the juice of 1 lemon added to water) to prevent discolouration.
Quarter each artichoke, then slice each quarter thinly. Don’t discard the stems—peel away the tough outer layer and slice the tender centres.
Heat a generous splash of extra virgin olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pan. Add the sliced artichokes and sauté gently for 5–7 minutes, tossing the pan rather than stirring to keep the slices intact.
Taste the artichokes. If they need further cooking, add about ½ cup of water, cover the pan and cook gently for another 10 minutes, or until they are just tender when tested with a fork.
Add a little more olive oil, then the spring onions, peas and broad beans. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the vegetables gently so they cook evenly without breaking up. Cook for 5–7 minutes, adding a splash of water (or a little stock, if using) if the pan becomes too dry.
Add the asparagus and cook for another 2–3 minutes, just until tender but still bright green.
Transfer the frittedda to a serving bowl to prevent the vegetables from continuing to cook in the hot pan.
Season with the white wine vinegar or the juice of ½ lemon. The acidity balances the natural sweetness of the vegetables. If desired, add a small pinch of sugar to enhance the sweet-and-sour balance.
I sometimes grate in a little fresh nutmeg, which complements the sweetness of the peas and broad beans. Scatter fresh mint leaves over the frittedda just before serving, as mint discolours if added too early.
Serving suggestion: Frittedda is best served at room temperature, allowing the flavours to develop fully.
Variations
As with many traditional Sicilian dishes, frittedda varies from one part of the island to another.
In Palermo, cooks often finish the dish with a light agrodolce (sweet-and-sour) dressing made from caramelised sugar and vinegar, much like the seasoning used for caponata.
In Enna, in the heart of Sicily, wild fennel is added during cooking, giving the dish a distinctive aromatic flavour that reflects the island’s inland traditions.
It is autumn in Australia and there are plenty of pumpkins around. I like cooking pumpkin this way because it has unusual flavours and it can be made well in advance. I have presented it both as an antipasto and as an accompaniment to main dishes.
I cook this dish quite often and I am surprised that I have not written about it on my blog.
The following text is a condensed version from my first book Sicilian Seafood Cooking. The photograph is also from the book. This all took place in my kitchen – I cooked it , Fiona Riggs styled it and Graeme Gillies photographed it.
This Sicilian specialty is sometimes called zucca in agro dolce (pumpkin in sweet and sour sauce) but I prefer the more colloquial Sicilian name, ficato ri setti canola – literally, ‘liver of the seven spouts (or reeds)’.
It is a colourful and aromatic dish. There is the strong colour of the pumpkin, tinged brown at the edges, and contrasted with bright green mint. The sweetness of the pumpkin is enhanced by the flavours and fragrance of garlic, cinnamon and vinegar. It is better cooked ahead of time – the flavours intensify when left at least overnight, but it can be stored in the fridge for several days.
The dish is said to have originated among the poor, in what is known as one of the quartieri svantaggiati (‘disadvantaged suburbs’) of Palermo.
Sicilians are colourful characters and like stories. It is said that the pumpkin dish was first cooked and named by the herb vendors of the Piazza Garraffello a small square in Palermo. These were the days before refrigeration and balconies and windowsills were often used to cool and store food, especially overnight. As the story goes, the herb sellers could often smell the aroma of veal liver coming from the balconies of the rich. At home, they cooked pumpkin the same way as the well-to-do cooked liver (fegato) and, wanting to create a bella figura, they hoped the fragrance of their cooking would mislead the neighbours into thinking that they too were well-to-do and could afford to eat liver.
The typical way of cooking liver is to slice it thinly, pan-fry it and then caramelise the juices in the pan with sugar and vinegar to make agro dolce (sweet and sour sauce).
As for the seven spouts (sette cannoli), they are the short cane-shapedspouts of an elegant 16th-century fountain in the piazza. Below – cathedral in Palermo.
In Australia I generally use the butternut or Jap pumpkin,The pumpkin is sliced 1cm (.in) thick and traditionally fried in very hot oil (if thicker, they take too long to cook).
Although baking the pumpkin slices is not traditional, I prefer this method .It certainly saves time in the preparation (see variation below). Serve it at room temperature as an antipasto or as a contorno (vegetable side dish).
1kg (2lb 4oz) pumpkin
10 cloves garlic
extra virgin olive oil (1. cup
if frying 1/3 cup if baking)
3 teaspoons sugar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
small mint leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
Fried Method
Peel and remove the seeds of the pumpkin and cut into 1cm (in) slices.
Peel and slice 4 cloves of garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based frying pan. Add the garlic cloves.
Remove when it has coloured and fry the pumpkin slices, turning them only once in case they break, until they become soft and begin to colour around the edges. Add salt to taste. Remove the pumpkin and discard some of the oil,
but keep any juices.
Use the same frying pan for the agro dolce sauce: add the sugar, stir it around the pan to caramelise it, and then add the vinegar and cinnamon.
Stirring constantly, allow the sauce to thicken slightly as the vinegar evaporates.
Add the remaining garlic cloves and few sprigs of mint to the warm sauce.
Add the pumpkin to the sauce, and sprinkle with pepper. Allow the sauce to penetrate the pumpkin on very low heat for a few minutes. Alternatively, pour the sauce over the pumpkin and turn the slices a couple of times. Cool
and store in the fridge once cool. Eat at room temperature.
When ready to serve, arrange the slices in a serving dish, remove the old mint (it would have discoloured). Scatter slices of fresh garlic and fresh mint leaves on top and in between the slices.
Baked version
Cut the pumpkin into thicker slices, about 2–3cm (1in).
Sprinkle with salt and place on an oiled baking tray.
Bake the pumpkin and garlic in a 200C (400F) oven (discard the garlic when the pumpkin has cooked).
Make the agro dolce sauce (see the above) in the baking tray instead of a frying pan.
I also add fresh bay leaves – like the look and the taste of it.
This is Pasta con le Sarde, the baked version, and a taste of Sicily’s history. It is one of the most iconic Sicilian dishes and consists of bucatini pasta tossed with sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, saffron, and topped (or encased) with golden, fried breadcrumbs.
Pasta con le Sarde can be served hot or cold and is visually more impressive when baked into a tummàla, a Sicilian term derived from the Arabic. The Italian name is timballo, from the French timbale, the cooked ingredients are encased in rice, pasta or pastry. The dry breadcrumbs are used to line and cover the contents in the baking pan, the long bucatini can be coiled around the pan and together with the sardine sauce become the filling.
I’ve cooked this dish many times and it is one of those recipes that tells a tale that begins with Sicily’s layered history and whenever I make this dish, I enjoy telling this story to my guests.
A tale – a Dish Born of Conquest and Creativity
Muslim Arabs took control of North Africa from the Byzantines and Berbers and began their second conquest of Sicily in 827 from Mazara, the closest point to the African coast. By 902 they had fully conquered Sicily. The Muslims were known as Moors by the Christians and by the time of the Crusades, they were also referred to as Saracens.
When the Muslim Arabs conquered Sicily from 827 to 902 AD, they brought with them not just new rulers, but new flavours — saffron, nuts, and dried fruit. Legend has it that when Arab troops first landed on the island, their cook was told to prepare food from whatever could be foraged. The soldiers brought to the cook wild fennel and sardines, plentiful along the Sicilian coast.
The cook combined these local ingredients with his own Arabic exotic ingredients and flavours of Arabs and North Africans – the saffron, dried fruit and the nuts. And so Pasta con le Sarde was born.
To this day, it remains a quintessentially Sicilian dish, especially in Palermo. Its sweet-savoury, sea-meets-land flavour captures Sicily’s unique blend of cultures.
Baked or Fresh Pasta con le Sarde – The Sicilian ‘Tummàla’
This layered, breadcrumb-crusted bake turns simple pasta into a festive centrepiece. The recipe with slight variations is also featured in my book, Sicilian Seafood Cooking.
Wild fennel is seasonal and is not always easy to find so I use fennel bulbs. On this occasion I bought fennel bulbs with the greatest amounts of green fronds, added some ground fennel seeds and a splash of Pernod to enhance the fennel taste.
Wild fennel
If you can get wild fennel, place it into some cold, salted water (enough to cook the pasta) and boil it for 10-15 minutes (it can be left in the water for longer). The green tinged, fennel-flavoured water is used to cook the pasta — it will flavour and colour the pasta. Reserve some of the tender shoots of wild fennel raw to use in the cooking of the sauce.
Drain the cooked fennel and keep the fennel-flavoured water to cook the pasta. Some of the cooked fennel can be added to the pasta sauce.
Traditionally, wild fennel is boiled to make the aromatic water used to cook the pasta. When wild fennel is scarce, bulb fennel makes an excellent substitute. I like to boost the anise flavour with a pinch of ground fennel seeds or a splash of Pernod.
Baked Pasta con le Sarde (Serves 4–6)
I prepare Pasta con le Sarde in sufficient quantities to have some leftovers for baking. This is a particularly useful strategy when I have different guests arriving on two occasions in close proximity. It is especially advantageous around Easter and Christmas when fish is still a preferred dish on Good Friday and Christmas Eve. The leftovers can be reconfigured for the following day.
Ingredients:
500g bucatini
500g fresh sardines (fillets)
1 large fennel bulb with fronds, finely chopped
1 tsp ground fennel seeds or a dash of Pernod
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
4 anchovies, chopped
¾ cup toasted pine nuts
¾ cup toasted almonds
¾ cup currants or sultanas (soaked)
½–1 tsp saffron threads (soaked)
Salt, black pepper or chilli flakes
100g coarse breadcrumbs, made with day old, quality bread (sourdough/pasta dura), lightly tossed and toasted in oil with a little lemon zest, a little cinnamon, and sugar
Method:
Prepare the fennel and Sardines : Slice the fennel into thin slices and cut fronds finely. Cut about two thirds of the sardine fillets into thick pieces. Reserve whole fillets to go on top and provide visual impact.
Cook the sauce:
In a wide pan, heat olive oil and sauté onion until golden. Add fennel and cook until softened. Stir in pine nuts, almonds, and currants (drained). oss gently until heated.
Add the sliced sardines, salt and pepper or chili. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring gently.
Add the anchovies (try to remove any bones if there are any) and as they cook, crush them with back of spoon to dissolve into a paste. Add ground fennel seeds or a splash of Pernod to enhance the fennel taste. Add saffron (and the soaking water) and continue to stir and cook gently.
Fry the whole fillets of sardines in a separate frying pan, keeping them intact. Remove them from the pan and put aside.
The Pasta: Boil bucatini in the fennel water (if using wild fennel) until al dente.
Drain the pasta.
Combine: Toss pasta with the sauce, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and top with fried whole sardine fillets.
Timballo (Baked Version) of Pasta con le Sarde
Method:
Make more breadcrumbs using the quantities above. For a deeper crust, double the quantities. I am not a great lover of using more breadcrumbs as you see in the photos.
Line a baking tin with baking paper or foil to prevent sticking and make lifting easier. Traditionally a round shape is used.
Sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs and layer coiled bucatini, sardine mixture, more pasta, and breadcrumbs. Make the bottom and the top thick layers of breadcrumbs if you wish for a significant crust.
Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, cover with foil and bake in preheated 200°C for approximately 20- 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes. When the dish is baked, the breadcrumbs form a crust.
The result? A fragrant, golden, fragrant dish and centuries of Sicilian history.
Here are more photos of Palermo and Mondello and details of a GoEuro Travel Inspiration Competition that I have entered.
Some time ago, I was contacted by a member of the marketing Team at GoEuro, a travel search engine/website that combines and compares rail, bus and air travel in one site. They are based in Berlin. GoEuro was preparing a blog feature about Sicily, with tips from well-travelled bloggers and had found my site. They asked if I’d be interested in sharing some of my recommendations within the region.
Recently I was contacted by GoEuro again, this time inviting me to enter a travel blog competition:
Write a post on your blog detailing how you would spend your perfect holiday in Europe: where would you go? Why? One lucky writer wins £500 towards their next European adventure.
How could I resist?
I wrote a blog about visiting Palermo because it is the most diverse and complex city in Sicily.
Sicily is the pearl of this century is a phrase that captures why revisiting Palermo reveals a city of extraordinary layers, where history, culture, food and memory intersect in endlessly surprising ways.
The quote below was written almost a thousand years ago by an Arabian geographer, Muhammed Al-Idrisi, in his book of “pleasant journeys into faraway lands” for the Norman King of Sicily, Roger II.
“Sicily is the pearl of this century for its qualities and its beauty, for the uniqueness of its towns and its people […] because it brings together the best aspects of every other country.”
Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo The Norman Palace, seat of power of the Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II of Sicily, built over earlier Arab foundations.
Under Roger II of Sicily (r. 1130–1154), Palermo served as the seat of power of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, a cosmopolitan capital where Latin, Greek and Arab traditions coexisted at the highest levels of government and culture.It was also where Muhammad al-Idrisi worked at court, compiling his famous world map and geographic text for Roger II.
As Al-Idrisi discovered, Sicily may be small, but it has the best of everything and although I may visit some places again and again, I always manage to discover something new. And this is what brings me back to Sicily again and again. I grew up in the far north of Italy in Trieste but each summer as a child, I would travel to Sicily for our summer holidays – both of my parents have relatives in Sicily. For me Sicily was an exotic place of sunshine, colour and warmth, the outdoors and the sea. Wherever I go in Europe, I always visit Sicily as well.
On my latest trip I concentrated on Southeastern Sicily and went to little towns and villages that I had not been to before as well as familiar places where I’m always interested to see what’s changed and what has stayed the same.
Next time I visit I plan to spend more time in the city that is the essence of Sicily – Palermo. While Al-Adrisi called Sicily a “pearl” Roberto Alajmo, a journalist and blogger born and raised in Palermo compared his home town to an onion, una cipolla – its multiple layers have to be peeled to be appreciated.
Once you start peeling back the layers of Palermo what you find is a city where history meets infamy and splendor encounters squalor, antiquities stand beside modernity. All of it evidence of a fantastic overlay of cultures from Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French and Spanish. This cultural fusion shows up in the food and drink, the art and architecture, the palaces, the temples and churches and the entire Sicilian way of life.
Last time I visited Palermo was three years ago, but each time I go I’m always happy to revisit the historic quarter with its Arabo-Norman monuments.
Cappella Palatina, Palermo Byzantine mosaics, Islamic ceiling decoration and Norman architecture come together in the royal chapel commissioned by Roger II of Sicily.
Among my favourites are the Palazzo dei Normanni and its Cappella Palatina with their dazzling Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. There’s also King Roger II’s La Martorana, where the spectacular mosaic of Christ the Pantocrator overlooks Olivio Sozzi’s baroque Glory of the Virgin Mary, painted six centuries later. I enjoy admiring the simple, geometric shapes of the Norman palaces, La Cuba and La Zisa, built entirely by Arabic craftsmen and the distinctive Arabo-Norman red domes on San Cataldo and San Giovanni degli Ermiti.
La Zisa, Palermo Built by Arab craftsmen for the Norman court, La Zisa reflects Islamic concepts of geometry, water and climate-conscious design.
On my not-to-miss list is the Cattedrale which is another masterpiece of overlaid period styles, begun by the Normans in the 12th Century, with 15th Century Catalan Gothic porch, capped off with a neo-classical 18th Century neo-classical dome. The timeline continues inside with tombs of Norman and Swabian kings and queens: Roger II and his daughter, Costanza d’Altavilla and their son Frederick II and his wife of Costanza of Aragon. You can admire her imperial gold crown in the cathedral’s treasury.
Palermo Cathedral An extraordinary palimpsest of styles — Norman, Gothic, Catalan and Baroque — layered over centuries at the city’s spiritual heart.
Palermo also has a fountain to rival the best of Rome. La Fontana Pretoria was once prudishly called the “fountain of shame” because of the multiple nude statues. Judge for yourself!
La Fontana Pretoria.
The baroque also makes a grand stand in the four elegant palazzo facades of the Quattro Canti, framing the intersection of Palermo’s two main boulevards.
Quattro Canti, Palermo Baroque façades frame the intersection of Palermo’s two main axes, marking the symbolic centre of the historic city.
I know I’m at the heart of the onion that is Palermo when I enter the labyrinth of laneways in the city’s sprawling markets – especially La Vucciria and Ballarò – with their clustered stalls that remind me of an Arabic souk. I like to listen to the clamour of the traders’ shouted Sicilian dialect. Sheltered from the sun under red canvas awnings you find the fish stalls. In his book, Midnight in Sicily Peter Robb described how the diffused red light of the market “enhanced the translucent red of the big fishes’ flesh and the silver glitter of the smaller ones’ skins”.
Wandering the old quarters of Palermo, you’ll pick up the aroma of traditional street-food fried in large vats such as panelle (chickpea flour fritters), cazzilli (potato croquettes) or meusa (spleen) which are typical dishes of the friggerie. You will smell char-grilled peppers. And if I want to eat these treats in doors I go to classic restaurants like L’Antica Foccaceria San Francesco which has been cooking the same thing for decades.
I find it interesting to see how traditional cuisine has developed and one of my favourite things to do in Palermo (or anywhere I go in Sicily) is to find restaurants that re-invent traditional dishes and present them with contemporary twists. And if I want to contrast the old-style dishes with contemporary versions there are still typical trattorie like La Casa del Brodo that have classic Palermo dishes like sarde a beccafico, caponata, pasta con la sarde.
I’m also seriously interested in discovering the ever increasing new hip bars that serve glasses of Sicilian wine varieties like grillo and nero d’avola and boutique beers matched with interesting snacks that reflect modern Sicilian cuisine.
When the time comes to escape the close-quarter hustle of the city, I can catch a bus to the north-west side of Palermo to admire the Liberty-style residences of the capital’s once-wealthy merchants. I can travel to the picturesque seaside town of Mondello, where I can dine out on the waterfront, drink in the view, scoop up a granita or gelato, eat a cannolo or a slice of cassata. It is definitely a place to eat fish and enjoy a drink or two.
Mondello, near Palermo A seaside escape from the city, known for Liberty-style villas, seafood, granita and long lunches by the water.
Back in town I can always book a ticket to the opera or ballet at the Teatro Massimo and eat a delicious cold treat on my way back to where I am staying.
Palermo’s gardens are another escape. I love to wander in the greenery of the Villa Giulia or the Piazza Marina with its massive fig trees, which are spectacular. The modern art galleries are another diversion. There’s the GAM (La Galleria d’Arte Moderna), Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea, Nuvole Incontri d’Arte and Palazzo Riso which I was told about on my last visit to Palermo, when I saw an exhibition of works by Francesco Simeti.
Palazzo Riso, Palermo A late-18th-century palace turned contemporary art museum, its restored scars bearing witness to Palermo’s turbulent modern history.
Palazzo Riso is a baroque neo-classical edifice built in the 1780s. It was Mussolini’s temporary headquarters in World War II and bombed by the Americans in a failed attempt to kill the Italian dictator (who had left town only days before the air-raid). For years the Palazzo stood in ruins and when it was finally restored during the late-1990s, the restorers preserved some of the damage as evidence of its history.
Although I have seen Guttoso’s painting of the Vucciria Market hanging in the Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri, I have yet to see the basement where thousands of prisoners accused of heresy through the Holy Inquisition were imprisoned. These prison walls are covered in prisoners’ simple etchings, which were plastered over in the 19th Century.
I take great pleasure in returning to a place as rich and varied as Sicily and why revisiting a city as layered as Palermo is top of my European travel wish list. It may not have the reputation of Rome (the eternal city) or Florence (la serenissima) but it has depth and diversity.
Classic Palermo dishes mentioned this post: sarde a beccafico, caponata, pasta con la sarde.
Palermo, Sicily: Peeling Back the Layers of the City of Palermo
Cefalu
In the last 10 years Sicily has become a very popular destination and many friends, acquaintances and readers of my book (Sicilian Seafood Cooking) and my blog (All Things Sicilian and More), who plan to travel to Sicily, ask me for advice:
What should we do … where should we go … what must we eat … how do we get from point A to B? So this post features travel advice for Pa
Ragusa
GoEuro travel competition
Recently, I was contacted by a member of the marketing Team at GoEuro, a travel search engine that combines and compares rail, bus and air travel in one site. GoEuro was preparing a blog feature about Sicily, with tips from well-travelled bloggers and had found my site. They asked if I’d be interested in sharing some of my recommendations within the region.
This is what I wrote about Palermo and this is what was published:Sicily and Peeling back the layers
Marisa Raniolo Wilkins
“Sicily is the pearl of this century for its qualities and its beauty, for the uniqueness of its towns and its people […] because it brings together the best aspects of every other country.”
This was written almost a thousand years ago by an Arabian geographer, Muhammed Al-Idrisi, in his book of “pleasant journeys into faraway lands” for the Norman King of Sicily, Roger II.
As Al-Idrisi discovered, Sicily may be small, but it has the best of everything and although I may visit some places again and again, I always manage to discover something new. And this is what brings me back to Sicily again and again. I grew up in the far north of Italy in Trieste but each summer as a child, I would travel to Sicily for our summer holidays – both of my parents have relatives in Sicily. For me Sicily was an exotic place of sunshine, colour and warmth, the outdoors and the sea. Wherever I go in Europe, I always visit Sicily as well.
On my latest trip I concentrated on Southeastern Sicily and went to little towns and villages that I had not been to before as well as familiar places where I’m always interested to see what’s changed and what has stayed the same.
Next time I visit I plan to spend more time in the city that is the essence of Sicily – Palermo. While Al-Adrisi called Sicily a “pearl” Roberto Alajmo, a journalist and blogger born and raised in Palermo compared his home town to an onion, una cipolla – its multiple layers have to be peeled to be appreciated.
Once you start peeling back the layers of Palermo what you find is a city where history meets infamy and splendor encounters squalor, antiquities stand beside modernity. All of it evidence of a fantastic overlay of cultures from Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French and Spanish. This cultural fusion shows up in the food and drink, the art and architecture, the palaces, the temples and churches and the entire Sicilian way of life.
Last time I visited Palermo was five years ago, but each time I go I’m always happy to revisit the historic quarter with its Arabo-Norman monuments. Among my favourites are the Palazzo dei Normanni and its Cappella Palatina with their dazzling Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. There’s also King Roger II’s La Martorana, where the spectacular mosaic of Christ the Pantocrator overlooks Olivio Sozzi’s baroque Glory of the Virgin Mary, painted six centuries later. I enjoy admiring the simple, geometric shapes of the Norman palaces, La Cuba and La Zisa, built entirely by Arabic craftsmen and the distinctive Arabo-Norman red domes on San Cataldo and San Giovanni degli Ermiti.
On my not-to-miss list is the Cattedrale which is another masterpiece of overlaid period styles, begun by the Normans in the 12th Century, with 15th Century Catalan Gothic porch, capped off with a neo-classical 18th Century neo-classical dome. The timeline continues inside with tombs of Norman and Swabian kings and queens: Roger II and his daughter, Costanza d’Altavilla and their son Frederick II and his wife of Costanza of Aragon. You can admire her imperial gold crown in the cathedral’s treasury.
Palermo also has a fountain to rival the best of Rome. La Fontana Pretoria was once prudishly called the “fountain of shame” because of the multiple nude statues. Judge for yourself! The baroque also makes a grand stand in the four elegant palazzo facades of the Quattra Canti, framing the intersection of Palermo’s two main boulevards.
I know I’m at the heart of the onion that is Palermo when I enter the labyrinth of laneways in the city’s sprawling markets – especially La Vucciria and Ballarò – with their clustered stalls that remind me of an Arabic souk. I like to listen to the clamour of the traders’ shouted Sicilian dialect. Sheltered from the sun under red canvas awnings you find the fish stalls. In his book, Midnight in Sicily Peter Robb described how the diffused red light of the market “enhanced the translucent red of the big fishes’ flesh and the silver glitter of the smaller ones’ skins”.
Wandering the old quarters of Palermo, you’ll pick up the aroma of traditional street-food fried in large vats such as panelle (chickpea flour fritters), cazzilli (potato croquettes) or meusa (spleen) which are typical dishes of the friggeria. And if I want to eat these treats in doors I go to classic restaurants like L’Antica Foccaceria San Francesco which has been cooking the same thing for decades.
I find it interesting to see how traditional cuisine has developed and one of my favourite things to do in Palermo (or anywhere I go in Sicily) is to find restaurants that re-invent traditional dishes and present them with contemporary twists. And if I want to contrast the old-style dishes with contemporary versions there are still typical trattorie like La Casa del Brodo that have classic Palermo dishes like sarde a beccafico, caponata, pasta con la sarde.
I’m also seriously interested in discovering the ever increasing new hip bars that serve glasses of Sicilian wine varieties like grillo and nero d’avola and boutique beers matched with interesting snacks that reflect modern Sicilian cuisine.
When the time comes to escape the close-quarter hustle of the city, you can catch a bus to the north-west side of Palermo to admire the Liberty-style residences of the capital’s once-wealthy merchants. Stay on board to travel to the picturesque seaside town of Mondello, where you can dine out on the waterfront, drink in the view, scoop up a granita or gelato, eat a cannolo or a slice of cassata. It is definitely a place to eat fish and enjoy a drink or two. Back in town you can always book a ticket to the opera or ballet at the Teatro Massimo.
Palermo’s gardens are another escape. I love to wander in the greenery of the Villa Giulia or the Piazza Marina with its massive fig trees, which are spectacular. The modern art galleries are another diversion. There’s the GAM (La Galleria d’Arte Moderna), Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea, Nuvole Incontri d’Arte and Palazzo Riso which I was told about on my last visit to Palermo, when I saw an exhibition of works by Francesco Simeti.
Palazzo Riso is a baroque neo-classical edifice built in the 1780s. It was Mussolini’s temporary headquarters in World War II and bombed by the Americans in a failed attempt to kill the Italian dictator (who had left town only days before the air-raid). For years the Palazzo stood in ruins and when it was finally restored during the late-1990s, the restorers preserved some of the damage as evidence of its history.
Although I have seen Guttoso’s painting of the Vucciria Market hanging in the Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri, I have yet to see the basement where thousands of prisoners accused of heresy through the Holy Inquisition were imprisoned. These prison walls are covered in prisoners’ simple etchings, which were plastered over in the 19th Century.
I take great pleasure in returning to a place as rich and varied as Sicily and why revisiting a city as layered as Palermo is top of my European travel wish list.
Palermo may not have the reputation of Venice — La Serenissima, Genoa — La Superba, Rome — La Città Eterna, Bologna — La Dotta, La Grassa, La RossaFlorence — La Culla del Rinascimento (“the cradle of the Renaissance”) but Palermo has depth and diversity.
La cattedrale
Located on the south west coast of Sicily, Selinunte (named Selinos by Greeks) was one of the richest and most important cities for Magna Grecia
*** In this post PALERMO -18 Secrets of Sicily Revealed by Top Travel Bloggers, I have only included the text that the site published. No photos of the places I mentioned are included. If you would like to see the photos of these places, See:PALERMO, SICILY AND PEELING BACK THE LAYERS
Postscript: My blog had already been mentioned by two other tourism companies – Sicily Local Expert Award and Sicily Tourism, and these two companies provided a general list of quality Sicilian blogs. Whether the sites continue to exist, or if they keep this information on their site remains to be seen.
*Also GoEuro became Omio, so Peeling back the onionis now a long-defunct article, but I have kept the writing. I will update this post as a separate entry.
The recipe and the name of this dish is taken from the menu of one of Sicily’s outstanding restaurants called Charleston found in Mondello.
Mondello is a very beautiful beach community on the outskirts of Palermo – an easy bus trip.
The restaurant is probably called by this name, because of its grandeur and its spacious design is reminiscent of the popular, dance halls of the twenties. It is a lively, glamorous restaurant on the water, with top food and had been reputed to be frequented by pezzi grossi (slang for people who mean business).
Close to Mondello is the Parco della Favorita, a spectacular park and a villa.
Each Spring I enjoy eating fresh broad beans and fresh peas. Artichokes in Australia are at the end of their season and may be quite fibrous at this time of year, however in this recipe the most tender parts are used – discard most of the outside leaves leaving only the softer centre and the ‘fondi’ of the artichokes (the tender, fleshy part at the base). Combining these three vegetables is very common in many Italian Spring recipes and in this recipe the results are a fresh pasta dish.
I first wrote this recipe in my blog in 2008 and I am republishing it because I have been fiddling around with this recipe since then. I am also revisiting some of the old recipes on my blog and updating some of the photos- the photos of Mondello are from 2007 and I am remembering some very enjoyable experiences.
I had eaten at the Charleston a couple of times in earlier years and had enjoyed the food and menu immensely. The intention was and still is (2014) to represent the best of Sicilian traditional dishes, wines and quality produce. Last time I ate at this restaurant was in 2009 and my experiences were not as favourable; the restaurant had changed hands so this may also have contributed to my negative impressions at the time or maybe I was having a bad hair day!.
The pasta dish is similar to a warm salad. Using cylindrical shaped, hollow, tubular pasta will help to trap the sauce. The vegetables are cooked very quickly and I make the sauce while the pasta is cooking to better preserve the colours of the vegetables (the different shades of the colour green).
WHAT I LIKE TO DO
In my recipe I add herbs at the end of cooking – mint or fennel fronds (cut finely) or fresh basil.
As an alternative I also like to add fresh ricotta on top of the pasta when I present it. If I do this I omit the pecorino cheese.
The following recipe is for 6 people
INGREDIENTS
pasta, 400g tubular pasta
artichokes, the fondi (bases)-depending on the size of the artichokes I usually buy 5 large artichokes and use the stalk as well
lemon, 1 for acidulated water
broadbeans, young, 1kg in their pods
peas, young, 1kg n their pods
onion, 1 large white, fresh (fresh onion are sweeter in taste ) sliced
pecorino, 100g freshly grated
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil, 3/4 cup
PROCESSES
Shell the peas and broad beans. (Many remove the outer light green peel of the broad beans – I only buy young broad beans and only remove the skin of the larger beans)
Prepare the artichokes by first removing all of the leaves and only keeping the tender centre and its fleshy base. Remove the choke if there is one. The peeled stalks and the artichokes should be sliced finely and keep them in acidulated water until ready to use to prevent them from browning.
Boil the water, add salt and cook the pasta and make the sauce while the pasta is cooking.
Heat the oil and add the onion. Stir gently until golden and softened.
Add the vegetables and toss till they begin to change colour and have softened (about 7-10 mins). Add salt during cooking.
Add fresh, finely chopped herbs before the end of cooking..
Drain the pasta, add the sauce and toss gently.
Present it with grated pecorino and black pepper.
