Bigoli co le Sardele Salae -- Bigoli with Salted Sardines

Per far i bigoli Ghe vol le Sardele Per far L'Amor Ghe vol le bele Putele

To make Bigoli You must have sardines To make love You must have beautiful girls

Thus goes the traditional Dalmatian saying with which Gioia Calussi introduces Bigoli (the thick-stranded pasta of Venetian tradition) with Sardines. It was one of the standard Friday and Vigil day dishes, and a requirement for Christmas Eve. You'll need:

• 7 salted sardines (she means whole salted sardines, which are about 5 inches (12 cm) long; anchovy filets will work, though you'll need at least 12 because they're smaller)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• A small onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, diluted in a little warm water
• 1 clove garlic
• Pepper
• A small bunch parsley, minced
• 1 pound (450 g) bigoli or other long thick-stranded pasta
• A few fronds of wild fennel or a teaspoon of fennel seeds (optional; if you add them to the pasta water they will add a pleasing fennel accent to the flavor of the pasta)

Set pasta water to boil; when it boils, salt it lightly (the sardines are salty) and cook the pasta. While doing this, prepare the sauce, timing things so the sauce is ready when the pasta is done:

Remove the heads from the sardines, bone them, and rinse them in water and vinegar. Sauté the onion in the olive oil, and when it has become golden add the sardines. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, stir in the diluted tomato sauce, and continue to cook until the water has evaporated. At this point the sauce is ready; pour it over the pasta and serve.

Variations:

• Scale, bone, and rinse the sardines. Cut the filets into small pieces and marinate them for a half hour in olive oil. Sauté them for 2-3 minutes in the oil, season them with salt and pepper, and use them to season the pasta (no tomato in this case).
• Scale, rinse and bone 1 1/2 sardines per person and set them to cook in a pot with just a little water. When the water has evaporated, add olive oil and a minced clove of garlic, and turn off the heat. In the meantime, brown a heaping tablespoon of breadcrumbs per person in a little unsalted butter or olive oil (enough to coat the crumbs). Combine the breadcrumbs with the sardines, and use the mixture to season your bigoli.
• Cook the bigoli in water laced with wild fennel fronds or a teaspoon of fennel seeds, and serve them with a sauce similar to the primary sauce above, substituting 2 tablespoons of pine nuts and a quarter cup of raisins that have been plumped for a half hour in warm water for the dilute tomato sauce. Serve with a dusting of shredded almonds.

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Other Dalmatian Christmas Recipes

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