Recipe: Nonna Fina's Sicilian Pasta con le Sarde

A recipe that will forever take me back to my summer in Sicily

A couple of summers ago I escaped to Sicily. I flew out on a granny mission to cook with as many nonnas as I possibly could and after just one week in Palermo, I was already in love. I met someone on my first night in the city and stayed for him, then for the city, then for the food. There were so many flights from Palermo to Athens that I booked and didn’t take, that I lost count after a couple of months in the city.

Palermo - city of street food and romantic Baroque architecture - is for me, the most beautiful of all of Italy. Nonna Fina was the first Italian grandmother I cooked with while in Sicily and this dish of sweet-savoury sugo spiked with anchovies and raisins is one I cooked for a number of people (love interests included!) during my six months in the city.

Since leaving, I forever go back to the cobbled pavements, grand architecture and sultry evenings with this dish, gifted to me by the wonderful Nonna Fina. I will be grateful to her eternally for such a brilliant hangover cure / ultimate pasta for seduction!

Next week I’ll be sharing my guide to eating in Palermo so stay tuned for that too but for the weekend, here’s Nonna Fina’s Pasta con le Sarde.

Nonna Fina’s Pasta con le Sarde