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Plain pasta often includes anchovy or sardine variants, which are small, salty, and oily ocean fish. Different regions in Italy have their own sauces to pair with pasta, with central Italy known for milk-based sauces and cheeses, and southern Italy for fresh seafood, including sardine paste. The sardine is also a traditional dish in the Southern Italian Catholic tradition of “The Feast of the Seven Fishes.”
When a restaurant menu or dinner invitation states “plain pasta,” there’s a good chance it’s serving an anchovy or sardine variant. Both are small, rather salty and oily, ocean fish. The smaller anchovy can be mashed and incorporated into a sauce, while the larger sardine is usually added whole or in cut pieces as a protein to this traditional Italian starch.
The pasta by itself is mostly bland and is therefore served with some type of sauce to match the type, shape and texture of the pasta shape. Among these, Northern Italian sauces include herb pesto, ragu, and the traditional meat and tomato Bolognese which can all be used to create sardine paste. Both central and southern Italy also use tomato sauces, if simpler and spicier, such as Arrabbiata with hot peppers. Adding vegetables or meats varies by region.
Sardine paste can be segregated if using fresh fish or a preparation. This also roughly corresponds to a north-south segregation. Venetians fry and then marinate the sardines in olive oil for a pickled sardine to add to or serve as a side dish with pasta. Spain has a similar preparation marinated in oil, vinegar, raisins, pine nuts and spices. Bianchetti linguiria is boiled sardines or anchovies simply flavored with olive oil, salt and lemon juice, which also accompany pasta.
Central Italy is known for milk-based sauces and cheeses, such as carbonara and alfredo sauce. These types of sauces usually pair poorly with sardines and other fish. Bucatini is thick spaghetti-shaped pasta about 3 mm in diameter with a hole running through the center. This is also common in central Italy, served with buttery sauces, bacon, greens, cheese, egg, and anchovies or sardines.
Southern Italy, on the other hand, is where fresh seafood, including sardine paste, is most common. Pomodoro, a quick toss of pasta with various ingredients popular on the island of Sardinia, after which the fish is named, is one example. A traditional classic is chopped sardines, toasted pine nuts, thinly sliced fennel root and olive oil for pasta with sardines. Tomato sauces are also used and, despite their less than compatible combination, they are often used for fish pasta, certainly more important than in the rest of Italy. Another Southern Italian Catholic tradition is the sardine as one of the dishes in “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” eaten as a festival vigil in anticipation of the birth of Jesus at midnight.
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