Fennel-Sardine Spaghetti

Use a good quality sardine for this--I made half the recipe using 2 cans of Starkist Gourmet sardines in tomato sauce. You definitely don't want a big cheap can of bad tomato sauce!  I found it completely unnecessary to debone a sardine--I never do, as the bones are soft, as in canned salmon, and full of calcium. I also cut the oil to one teaspoon and sauteed the onion and fennel in a nonstick pan, thus saving masses of calories.  Done this way, the calorie count is 433 per serving, which is a lot better. Served with some steamed broccoli and my husband had a warm ciabatta roll with his.

Interesting and different, but I'm not sure I'll make this again. We don't like fennel, so I substituted bok choy stems instead. Enjoyed this the night I made it, but got a bit tired of the sardine flavor in leftovers.

Nice change of pace from the old tomato pasta sauce. It's got tomato sauce, yes, but the sardines was way better than the overdone meatballs. I liked the fennel more than anything else. Kids didn't know what hit them. Will make again!

My husband and I will likely make this recipe again. We only used half the amount of sardines-- each of our cans was half the amount. The sardines were a bit of a pain to debone. But the end result was delicious. The next time I make it I will likely use the full amount of sardines.

I'm definitely adding this to my repertoire. This easy, fast recipe was surprisingly tasty. I don't think I've ever had sardines before, but they made a good sauce. I served it with roasted brussels sprouts, which was a good accompaniment. Would also be good with a green salad.