Every ingredient counts: butter, sardines, lemon, and chives.

Chop the chives finely and set them aside. Set your knife aside too -- no more chopping in this recipe!

Sardines! You gotta love 'em. We emptied the whole can of sardines in oil into a strainer.

Amanda deftly halves each sardine before roughly chopping the whole bunch.

Time to slide the sardines into the butter!

Amanda sets in, mashing the sardines and butter with a sturdy fork. It helps to have the butter at a true room temperature -- just on this side of soft.

Getting there! Make sure there are no big clumps -- you're aiming for a smooth, spreadable texture.

When the sardines are mashed to your liking, add the lemon juice. Just half of one will do!

We poured the juice into the bowl through a strainer to catch any errant seeds.

Give the lemon juice and chives a quick stir, check for seasoning, and you're done!

Those toast points are calling out for sardine butter.

We could just spoon it on.

Some strong flavors in attendance! White wine, pine nuts, garlic, fennel, currants, fennel seeds, sardines, onion, red pepper flakes, bucatini, and anchovies.

We love a good mise en place. Isn't Amanda's new counter beautiful?

Amanda uses a knife to pry out the backbones of the tinned sardines.

The fennel and onions sweat as Amanda salts them -- not too much though, the anchovies will take care of the rest!

Garlic on deck! It always helps to have ingredients at the ready.

A white wine bath for the sauteeing fennel. On the other burner, the pasta water comes to a boil.

Add in those sardines -- blanka.n instructs us us to break them up with a wooden spoon.

A sprinkling of currants adds bite and color to the sauce.

Pine nuts, that Italian classic, add crunch!

We love the depth of triple-fennel recipes -- seeds, root, and fronds.

When the bucatini hits the boiling water, you know you're in the home stretch.

Amanda runs back to the cutting board to chop fennel fronds for the garnish.

Reserving a cup of starchy water before draining the pasta is good insurance against a dry sauce.

The al dente pasta is dumped into the sauce, still hot.

Toss the pasta until the strands glisten with sauce -- there's plenty to go around.

Serve in tangles, and eat by the plate.

And a quick outtake -- the pan looks so lonely! Anyone else want a helping?