For 4 servings:

400 grs small macaroni, 1sliced onion, olive oil, 600 grs fresh sardines, 4 anchovies deboned, 4 wild fennels, 5 grs saffron, 50 grs soaked and drained raisin, 50 grs pine nuts, salt, pepper, oil to fry.

Clean the fennels, keeping the soft part to be boiled for 10 minutes in 2 litres of salted boiling water. Drain and chop, keeping the cooking water. Cut the head to the sardines, open on the stomach side, clean away the intestines and the central bone, wash and dry. In a pan, brown the onion with 8 tablespoons of olive oil, put the anchovies, mash with a fork away from fire, put again on the fire with half of the sardines and mash again to obtain a pulp. Add the fennels, pine nuts, raisin and the saffron dissolved in 3 spoons of the pervious cooking water, put salt and pepper and keep warm. Fry the remaining sardines on both sides and dry; boil the cooking water with further water and salt, boil the macaroni, dry still underdone and dress with half of the prepared sauce. Grease a baking pan, put 1 layer of pasta, 1 layer of sardines and so on, covering the top with the remaining sauce. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes; can be served either warm or cold.

The strong fish taste recommends a strong sicilian white like a Cerdese bianco or a Casteldaccia bianco or a Zibibbo dry di Pantelleria .

Totani ripieni (Stuffed cuttle-fish)

For 4 servings:

4 cuttle-fish (abt. 600 grs), oilive oil, 2 tablespoons grated bread, a handful of parsley chopped with 1 garlic clove, 50 grs of diced pecorino (sheep) cheese, salt, pepper, 1 lemon (or orange)

Skin the cuttle-fish, take away the inner bag, eyes and cartilages and wash thoroughly. Grind the tentacles and mix with the grated bread, the parsley with garlic, pecorino cheese, salt and pepper and 3-4 spoons of water and oil. Stuff with this compound the inside of the cuttle-fish and seal the opening with a toothpick. In a greased baking pan, lay the slices of lemon (or orange), put the cuttle-fish, salt and pepper, few drops of oil and bake in oven at 220°C for 1 hour.

The suggested wines are dry whites like the Eloro bianco or a Val d Asupo bianco or even a Cerasuolo Mazzarino rosato.

Torta caprese (Capri style cake)

For 4-6 servings:

900 grs almonds, 700 grs butter, 700 grs sugar, 15 whole eggs, 15 egg yolks, 15 albumens, 90 grs flour, 90 grs cocoa powder, 300 grs melted chocolate.

Whip together sugar and butter adding the cocoa and flour previously sieved. Add the whole eggs and the yolks 3 at a time, till whipping; then add the almonds finely chopped and the melted chocolate. At the end add carefully the whipped albumens. Bake for 40 minutes at 160°C.

The best match is with a tasty dessert wine like a Moscato di Siracusa or a Moscato di Noto or the Passito di Pantelleria.