After a tiring day at the office,or a hard workout, pasta con le sarde - pasta with sardines - is delicious, nutritious and quick to prepare meal. It is one of our 'go to' dishes at home that can be very simple or, with a couple more ingredients and a little more prep, as 'complex' as one wants.
What makes this dish stand out?
A real hit of Neapolitan, Sicilian, Mediterranean taste and delight!
Quick and easy to prepare.
Ingredients can, if necessary, all come from the cupboard.
It is nutritionally a balanced meal of carbs, protein, polyphenols and omega-3 fats (better than a fish oil supplement). Perfect for those who are following a more measured approach to their eating practices.
From a sports nutrition standpoint, this dish is an excellent way to reload carbs, add protein and vital micronutrients for recovery.
Recipes and Variations
At home, our basic recipe is actually pasta with anchovies but we like to add tinned sardines for a heartier meal. If for some reason we do not have anchovies in the cupboard, no problem, the dish still works. If you do not like anchovies and just have sardines, the dish still works.
To jazz up the recipe, we can add black olives, capers, tomatoes, Italian parsley. Whatever is at hand!
The following videos provide variations on the recipe, inspiration for the flavours and possibilities. The basics of the recipe are simple enough, if you don't have some of the ingredients, don't worry. Items like capers or olives can be stored in the fridge long-term, so consider buying them to have on hand for any occasion.
We try not to be liberal with the olive oil. While it is healthy, like any other oil it is highly calorific. We use wholemeal pasta, we are now in the habit of buying it.
Major delight and inspiration...
Chop, chop, Ramsay style...
Jacques Pepin, with anchovies, always keeping it simple...
Spaghetti alla Natalina, a classic Neapolitan pasta dish...
The luxury version, pasta con le sarde...
Final Thoughts
We hope that you have enjoyed these recipes! The Ramsay version demonstrates how quickly a tasty dish can be cooked, the recipes from Howard and Vincenzo show that some extra ingredients and a little more effort can elevate the dish to a higher level.
Great taste, great food, doesn't have to be complicated; home cooking should and can be enjoyed!
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Related Studies and Resources
Santos HO, May TL, Bueno AA. Eating more sardines instead of fish oil supplementation: Beyond omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, a matrix of nutrients with cardiovascular benefits. Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 14;10:1107475. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1107475. PMID: 37143475; PMCID: PMC10153001.
Gaforio JJ, Visioli F, Alarcón-de-la-Lastra C, Castañer O, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Fitó M, Hernández AF, Huertas JR, Martínez-González MA, Menendez JA, Osada J, Papadaki A, Parrón T, Pereira JE, Rosillo MA, Sánchez-Quesada C, Schwingshackl L, Toledo E, Tsatsakis AM. Virgin Olive Oil and Health: Summary of the III International Conference on Virgin Olive Oil and Health Consensus Report, JAEN (Spain) 2018. Nutrients. 2019 Sep 1;11(9):2039. doi: 10.3390/nu11092039. PMID: 31480506; PMCID: PMC6770785.
Olas B. The Current State of Knowledge about the Biological Activity of Different Parts of Capers. Nutrients. 2023 Jan 25;15(3):623. doi: 10.3390/nu15030623. PMID: 36771330; PMCID: PMC9919103.
Ansary J, Forbes-Hernández TY, Gil E, Cianciosi D, Zhang J, Elexpuru-Zabaleta M, Simal-Gandara J, Giampieri F, Battino M. Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview. Antioxidants (Basel). 2020 Jul 15;9(7):619. doi: 10.3390/antiox9070619. PMID: 32679751; PMCID: PMC7402177.
Rakhi NK, Tuwani R, Mukherjee J, Bagler G. Data-driven analysis of biomedical literature suggests broad-spectrum benefits of culinary herbs and spices. PLoS One. 2018 May 29;13(5):e0198030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198030. PMID: 29813110; PMCID: PMC5973616.
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