Cooking with Sardines

Until this cooking lesson, I had never eaten fresh sardines (only canned), and I've definitely been underestimating their flavour.  They are simply delicious, albeit a little fiddly to prepare, and have a lovely firm flesh that would be perfect for grilling (I've made a mental note to try a grilled sardine recipe in the future).  Although this first recipe contains a lot of ingredients it is easy to cook and has a spectacular flavour. The second recipe reflects my favourite way to eat seafood - uncooked (well...marinated, technically the lemon cooks the flesh to a degree). Marinating is the freshest, most understated cooking technique and without a doubt my absolute number one.

Health-wise Sardines have a higher concentrations of Omega-3, Vitamin D and have less Mercury concentration than other larger fish so I'll be adding them to my cooking repertoire based on both taste and health benefits.

Recipe: Breaded Sardines with Raisins (Sarde a Beccafico)
Serves 4
(printable recipe)
1kg fresh sardines
5 Salted anchovies
150g breadcrumbs
3tbl olive oil
80g raisins
1 bunch parsley
80g pinenuts
Pepper to season
5 bay leaves
2tsp Sugar
2 lemons
Salt to season

Clean and bone the sardines; split them open, remove spine, wash them and leave to dry on a a t-cloth or kitchen paper. Remove the salt and bones from the anchovies and chop finely.  Lightly saute the breadcrumbs in 2tbsp. olive oil.  Soak the raisins in warm water for 5mins, then drain. Finely chop the parsley.  Combine the anchovies, breadcrumbs, raisins, parsley, pinenuts, salt and pepper and mix.  Coat sardines in mixture, roll, secure with a toothpick and place on an oiled oven tray with bay leaves.  Now combine the sugar, juice from 1 lemon and 1 tbsp. olive oil, mix, then spoon mixture onto sardines before placing the tray in a preheated 200 degree oven.  Cook for 20mins and serve with a lemon wedge on each plate.

Recipe: Marinated Sardines (Pesce Sarde Marinato)
Serves 4
(printable recipe)
3 lemons (juiced)
500g fresh sardines
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch parsley
1 small red chilli
5 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to season

Clean and bone the sardines; split them open, remove spine, remove scales (but leave the skin), wash them and leave to dry on a a t-cloth or kitchen paper.  Place skin down on a plate, pour on the lemon juice then sprinkle with finely chopped garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, red chilli and olive oil - leave at room temperature for 1 hour.  If you want - refrigerate for up to 24 hours before eating, just be sure to remove from the fridge at least 30mins before eating so that the olive oil returns to it's normal texture.  Serve alone or with crusty bread. Delicious!