Sicilian Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes: The Original Recipe
The Sicilian pasta with sun-dried tomatoes is one of those humble dishes that tells the story of an entire island in just a few ingredients. Spaghetti, sun-dried tomatoes, toasted breadcrumbs, anchovies, capers—nothing more. Yet the flavor is huge, salty and sweet at once, with the crunch of the crumb crackling under your teeth and the tomato flooding your mouth with concentrated sunshine.
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It’s the dish of Sicilian country homes, of quick lunches when there were no fresh tomatoes in the garden but a couple of kilos of dried ones were always in the pantry. It’s the “carbonara of the South”: five ingredients, three minutes of cooking, everyone loves it.
In this guide you’ll find the original recipe with exact quantities and timing, the secrets to making properly crunchy breadcrumbs, three regional variations, and the shortcut using ready-made sun-dried tomato paté.
The story of the dish
Pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies and breadcrumbs belongs to the Sicilian “pasta ca’ muddica” (pasta with crumb) family: toasted bread-crumbs were the “parmesan of the poor,” a way to add flavor and texture when cheese was out of reach. Sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies and capers were pantry staples: a meatless Friday dish, an everyday fallback when nothing else was around.
Today it’s a rediscovered classic, loved by chefs and trattorie alike, adored beyond Sicily because it sums up everything that works in the kitchen: concentrated flavors, simple technique, lightning-fast cooking.
Sicilian pasta with sun-dried tomatoes: the recipe
Prep time: 5 min · Cooking: 12 min · Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 400 g spaghetti or linguine
- 100 g sun-dried tomatoes (natural, rehydrated, or oil-packed and drained)
- 6 quality anchovy fillets in oil
- 2 Tbsp salt-packed capers (rinsed) or capers in vinegar
- 100 g stale bread (or 6 Tbsp coarse breadcrumbs)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 fresh chili or chili flakes
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Method
- Make the breadcrumbs. If starting from stale bread, blitz it briefly for a rough crumb. Toast dry in a non-stick pan over medium heat for 3–4 min, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl, add 2 Tbsp EVOO and stir (the crumb “drinks” the oil and turns even more aromatic). Set aside.
- Prep the tomatoes. Slice the sun-dried tomatoes into thin strips. If using natural ones, soak 20 min in hot water first; if oil-packed, drain and pat dry.
- Rinse the capers. Run under cold water 30 s (salt-packed ones can also soak 10 min).
- Cook the pasta. Bring plenty of lightly salted water to the boil (sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies and capers are already salty) and drop in the spaghetti.
- Build the sauce. While the pasta cooks, warm 4 Tbsp EVOO in a wide pan with sliced garlic and chili for 1 min over medium. Add anchovy fillets and mash with a wooden spoon until they melt into a brown, intensely savory layer (30 s). Stir in capers and sun-dried tomatoes, cook 2 min medium-low.
- Emulsify. Drain the pasta al dente, reserving a ladle of cooking water. Toss pasta into the pan, splash in some water and toss 1 min over medium heat.
- Serve. Divide among hot plates, shower generously with toasted crumbs, scatter chopped parsley, finish with a thread of raw EVOO.
The secrets
Fresh breadcrumbs. Whenever possible, start with real stale bread, not industrial crumbs. Quality bread blitzed coarsely gives irregular shards that fry into varied crunch—something uniform crumbs can’t deliver.
Anchovies must melt. You shouldn’t meet whole fillets in the bowl. Mash them in the hot oil until they dissolve into a dark, delicious film—that whispered anchovy note that makes the dish unmistakably Sicilian.
Go easy on the pasta water. Sun-dried tomatoes + anchovies + capers = serious salt. If you season the water as usual, the dish becomes inedible. Half the salt, sometimes none.
Breadcrumbs only at the end. Sprinkle the moment you serve, so they stay crisp. Fold them in earlier and they drink the moisture and turn to mush. Aim for a snow-fall of gold on red.
No cheese, ever. This pasta doesn’t want Parmesan or pecorino. The breadcrumb is the “cheese” of the recipe. Adding dairy masks the flavors and betrays the dish.
Regional twists
Anchovy-free Sicilian pasta (vegetarian)
For anchovy skeptics or a vegetarian plate. Skip the anchovies, double the capers and add a handful of pitted black olives. The flavor remains bold, though slightly different.
Palermo-style with sun-dried tomatoes
A version with sardines or fresh fish. Add 4–5 cleaned fresh sardines (or 100 g swordfish cubes) along with the tomatoes. A pinch of saffron in the pasta water (as in classic pasta con le sarde) gives a deep yellow hue.
Trapani-style with sun-dried tomatoes
A raw pesto with almonds. Blitz 50 g toasted almonds + 50 g sun-dried tomatoes + basil + garlic + EVOO. Dress hot pasta with the raw pesto and toasted crumbs on the side. Summery, fresh, no pan required.
With sun-dried tomatoes and wild fennel
A mountain tweak. Scatter a tuft of chopped wild fennel (or cultivated fennel fronds) raw over the plated pasta. The anise note talks beautifully to the tomatoes.
How to serve
Serve it piping hot, never lukewarm. Breadcrumbs don’t wait: if you must hold the plates, serve the pasta first and snow the crumbs on at the very last second.
Pair with a fresh Sicilian white (Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia) or a light, gulpable red (Frappato, young Nero d’Avola). Avoid heavy wines—they’ll brawl with the dish’s saltiness.
The shortcut: Sicilian pasta in 10 minutes
If you have Minnelea sun-dried tomato paté in the larder, you can skip the soak/chop step entirely. The paté is a concentrate of Cilento sun-dried tomatoes + EVOO + garlic + basil—in effect, half the sauce is ready-made.
Express method (2 portions):
- Toast crumbs in a dry pan + splash of EVOO, set aside.
- In the pan: 1 Tbsp oil + garlic + chili + 3 anchovies (melted) + rinsed capers.
- Stir in 3–4 Tbsp sun-dried tomato paté with 2 Tbsp pasta water.
- Al-dente spaghetti, pasta water, toss 1 min.
- Plate with crunchy crumbs, parsley, raw oil.
Total time: 10 minutes including pasta cooking.
Why Minnelea Paté works here
The paté already carries the aromatics that finish the Sicilian dish: fresh garlic and basil. The tomatoes are Cilento sun-dried, kissed by the same sun as their Sicilian cousins. EVOO from our own groves. No preservatives, vacuum-cooked at 55 °C. Great Taste Award 2025, WineHunter Award Gold.
→ Discover Minnelea Sun-Dried Tomato Paté
FAQ
Can I use short pasta instead of spaghetti?
Tradition calls for long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, bucatini), but short shapes like penne or rigatoni work—they trap the crumbs in their ridges.
Can I leave out the anchovies?
They’re the salty heart of the dish, but if you must, swap in 2 tsp colatura di alici or 1 tsp anchovy paste. The flavor stays in the same family.
Why no cheese?
Because the original Sicilian recipe doesn’t include it: the breadcrumb plays the salty, crunchy role of grated cheese. Adding Parmesan isn’t “wrong,” but it rewrites the dish’s DNA.
Can I make the breadcrumbs ahead?
Yes, they keep 2–3 days in an airtight jar at room temperature. Revive the crunch by warming them 1 min in a dry pan before serving.
How much does this cost per portion?
Under €2—peasant cooking at its finest. Stale bread, anchovies, capers, sun-dried tomatoes are all larder staples.
Is it high in calories?
Around 500–550 kcal per portion, with plenty of “good” fats from EVOO and anchovies.
For more heritage recipes, browse our collection of 8 traditional Italian sun-dried tomato pastas and the complete sun-dried tomato guide.
