Spaghetti with sardines, lemon and crispy breadcrumbs recipe

Our spaghetti with sardines, lemon, and crispy breadcrumbs uses cheap store-cupboard ingredients for a speedy midweek meal. 

Having some tasty 15 minute meals to hand is the perfect way to ensure you can always rustle up a tasty and nutritious dinner. Our cheap and easy spaghetti with sardines serves four but you can half it for a date night dinner for two or scale it up for the whole family to embrace. It tastes sophisticated but uses very simple, classic flavours. 

Ingredients

• 100g raisins
• 3tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 300g dried spaghetti, bucatini or another long pasta
• 2tsp fennel seeds
• 150ml dry white wine
• 140g canned sardines in oil, drained
• 50g toasted pine nuts
• Pinch of chilli flakes
• Handful parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside to plump up.
2. Heat 1tbsp of the oil in a a medium-high heat. Add half the garlic and fry for 30 secs, then add the breadcrumbs, stirring for 2-3 mins until golden. Pour into a bowl and stir in half the lemon zest and a good pinch of salt. Set aside.
3. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, wipe the pan clean, then heat the remaining oil over a medium heat. Add the rest of the garlic and the fennel seeds, and cook for 1 min. Add the wine and drained raisins, then cook for 5 mins until the wine has almost evaporated. Stir in the sardines, pine nuts, chilli flakes, the remaining lemon zest and the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
4. Once cooked, drain the pasta, reserving about 300ml of the cooking water, then toss through the sardine mixture, adding enough of the cooking water to make a light, glossy sauce. Stir through most of the chopped parsley and season to taste.
5. Serve the pasta topped with the breadcrumbs, and garnish with the rest of the chopped parsley.

Top tips for making this spaghetti with sardines, lemon and crispy breadcrumbs

A long pasta shape is best for this style of pasta as the sauce will more easily coat the pasta when it’s added to the pasta water to emulsify. 

Jessica Ransom

"Once the pasta is cooked and mixed with the rest of the ingredients, you can use scissors to snip it into smaller, more manageable pieces for younger eaters. You can also swap the wine for vegetable or fish stock."

If you don’t have breadcrumbs but have some bread in the cupboard, use a food processor to make a big batch. It will take a couple of seconds and you can store anything you don’t need for the recipe in the freezer for another day. Read our full Ninja 3-in-1 food processor review to discover what else it can do.

Ninja 3 in 1 Food Processor - View at Amazon

A food processor is a very useful piece of kitchen kit and it’s worth investing in one with lots of attachments as it saves the need for lots of other equipment. This 3-in-1 machine has so many functions that will make cooking, baking, and entertaining a breeze. 

If you’re looking for more cheap family meals, we think you’d like our classic spaghetti Bolognese or this spaghetti carbonara.