Sarde a beccafico, a beloved Sicilian dish, is named after the beccafichi – small birds that fed on ripe figs, which rendered them an aristocratic delicacy. Since everyone couldn't eat like the aristocracy, Sicilians got creative with what they had in abundance: sardines. Thus, this clever preparation for sardines beccafico-style was born. Nowadays, it's actually considered much better than the one from which it drew inspiration.
Sarde a Beccafico Recipe
Cooking time :1 hour
Ingredients for 8
1⅓ lb. medium-sized sardines (600 g)
3 oz. breadcrumbs or bread crumb (80 g)
3⅓ Tbsp. raisins (50 g)
2 Tbsp. pine nuts (30 grams)
¾ oz. grated caciocavallo cheese (20 g)
1 orange
bay leaves
parsley
shelled almonds
lemon
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Method
Soak the raisins in tepid water for 30 minutes. Clean the sardines removing the head, gut, and bone, but leave the tail in place. Place the bread crumb or breadcrumbs in a big bowl.
Chop a nice bunch of parsley, squeezed raisins, pine nuts, and add them to the breadcrumbs.
Then add the zest of ½ lemon (rinsed and dried), caciocavallo cheese, a pinch of salt, some ground pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, and mix. If desired, you can add 4 chopped oil-packed anchovies, 1 tsp. capers and 1 Tbsp. pitted chopped black olives to the filling.
Rinse an orange, slice it, then cut the slices in half. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and drizzle with a little oil. Place a nugget of filling on top of every open sardine, then roll the sardine up.
Arrange in the baking dish alternating them with bay leaves and orange slices, then drizzle with olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon. Place in the ventilated oven at 375 °F/190 °C for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven, finish with almond flakes, and serve.
Sarde alla Beccafico (ph Riccardo Lettieri)