Sarde a beccafico are sardines rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs, pine nuts, sultanas and orange juice and baked; the name recalls the stuffed songbirds nobles once ate.

The name comes from the beccafichi, small birds that Sicilian nobles hunted and had their monsù cooks pluck, bone and stuff. Peasants made do with sardines, keeping the V-shaped tail like the bird's. In the Palermo version the sardines are boned, rolled around breadcrumbs with garlic, parsley, sultanas, pine nuts and sugar, laid with bay leaves in orange juice and oil, and baked for about 15 minutes. Italian Wikipedia says the dish is often sold in the fry shops of Palermo's markets, such as the Vucciria, and that in the west of the island the filling goes inside one rolled sardine.

Where to eat Sarde a beccafico in Palermo

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Make it at home

Serves 475 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 16 fresh sardines, butterflied (head, spine and tail-skin removed)
  • 150g coarse breadcrumbs
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 50g sultanas, soaked
  • 4 salted anchovies, chopped
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 30 bay leaves, fresh
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 orange, juiced
  • Sea salt

Method

  1. Toast the breadcrumbs in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until golden. Cool slightly.
  2. Mix toasted breadcrumbs with pine nuts, drained sultanas, chopped anchovies, orange zest, grated cheese and a pinch of salt.
  3. Lay each butterflied sardine skin-side down. Place a spoon of filling at the head end and roll up towards the tail.
  4. Arrange the rolls in a baking dish, tail-up, with a bay leaf between every two sardines.
  5. Drizzle with olive oil and the orange juice. Cover with foil.
  6. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to crisp the breadcrumbs. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Editor tip. The orange-zest-and-anchovy filling is the Palermitan distinction; the Catania version uses lemon and capers instead.

Common allergens: Gluten, Fish, Nuts.