Authentic Sicilian Recipes: Traditional Dishes to Try

Mention Silician cuisine and you probably think of Italian food. However, this unique island’s cuisine has a fantastic mix of various cultures. Over the last two thousand years Sicily has been inhabited by the Greeks, Spanish, French, and even Arab culture. All these cultures have left their mark on traditional Sicilian recipes. It means there are a host of enticing dishes worth trying.

It’s worth noting that, thanks to Sicily’s location, many of the traditional Sicilian food recipes contain olive oil. The good news is that there are a host of benefits of olive oil, helping to keep Sicilian food recipes healthy.

What Foods Are Known in Sicily

One visit to the island will leave you spoilt for choice, that’s how extensive the array of authentic Sicilian food recipes is. Let’s take a look at some of the dishes you simply have to try:

Arancini

Arancini is simply balls of rice, usually saffron-flavored. The rice is molded around meat, peas, and tomatoes. It’s simple, tasty, and a common snack while wandering the streets of Sicily. This is one of the most authentic Sicilian food recipes, yet it is referred to by two different names; Arancini and Arancine. This is a reflection of the Sicilian pride in their food. Every region creates its own Arancini, they use their own ingredients and make the rice balls a specific shape.

Caponata

Of all the traditional Sicilian recipes this is perhaps the most famous. It’s now served in restaurants across the globe. Caponata is a dish containing pine nuts, aubergines, raisins, and vinegar. It’s generally regarded as an antipasto and always served at room temperature.

Busiate al pesto Trapanese

This dish originates in the Liguria area of Italy. However, Sicily has adopted it and made it into one of the most popular traditional Sicilian food recipes. It’s made with almonds, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and pecorino cheese. These ingredients are ground together and put with pasta. Traditional Sicilian recipes use busiate pasta, but any pasta can be used.

Pasta con le sarde

Of all the possible Sicily food recipes this is the one for fish lovers. It uses bucatini pasta which is similar to spaghetti and has a sauce made of sardines, anchovy filets, and fennel. Restaurants often sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top but this is a more recent development.

Involtini di pesce spada

The majority of Sicily food recipes use simple ingredients, reflecting the time when the dishes were invented. Involtini di pesce spade is a little more complicated. It consists of thinly sliced swordfish which is topped with capers, raisins, olives, pine nuts, and a little lemon. They are lightly fried in olive oil to crisp them up before being enjoyed.

Cannoli

You can’t talk about the fantastic Sicilian recipes without mentioning Cannoli, the famous sweet treat. It’s pastry tubes that have been deep-fried in olive oil. The tubes are then filled with authentic creamy Italian ricotta and are ready to eat. It’s truly heavenly and just one of the many sweet treats that Sicily has to offer.

Granita con brioche

This is a traditional Sicilian breakfast. It’s a bowl of frozen granita which has been flavored with fruit or coffee. The granita is accompanied by a warm brioche bun. It has to be tried to fully appreciate it.

Summing Up

If you want to experience traditional Sicilian recipes in all their glory you need to visit the island. While many of these famous dishes are now available across the globe, it’s difficult to match the quality of the food and the passion of Sicilian people.