mmm... sardines! anyone do anything interesting with them?

Xiney

I have a bit of an obession with tinned sardines - but I rarely do anything other than eat them straight out of the tin

They're actually really healthy though and inexpensive so I'd like to start getting my husband to eat them too. Which means actually cooking with them since he never eats them out of the tin like I do.



so... ideas please!

foodaholic

just back from portugal, ate tonnes of them.
when i cook them I just rub with oil, garlic and chili. Cook on a high heat and big squeese of lime/lemon. yum yum

Dinkie

I put them in the bin.....

My mum bbq's them or else mashes them up and puts them on toast.

Once in a blue moon she makes a dip with them (the only way I like them as I hate the bones)... the recipe is something like the following.

Sardines (canned)
Cottage cheese
Gherkin (1)
Tabasco
Tomato Ketchup (good splodge)
Lemon juice
Salt/ pepper
Mustard

I don't know the precise measurements. I just know the ingredients as it is part of her 'stock' recipe for smoked fish pate. She also makes it with smoked mackrel from lidl (also cheap) etc.

The dip is actually really good with pasta thinned out a bit!

Seaneh

I like them in a sambo myself.

Limerick_Lass

Heat some sweet chilli sauce and add some cheese until it melts. Place sardines in a buttered dish and pour the sauce over. bake in the oven. Quick and tasty

I made a pasta sauce which was quite nice, sardines straight out of tin mashed up with some onions and garlic.

or as a pizza topping!

Xiney

foodaholic wrote: »

just back from portugal, ate tonnes of them.
when i cook them I just rub with oil, garlic and chili. Cook on a high heat and big squeese of lime/lemon. yum yum

This sounds the best - I'll make this tomorrow

unkel

Xiney wrote: »

This sounds the best - I'll make this tomorrow

You're in Galway - surely you can get fresh sardines from you local fish monger? They are really, really cheap. So cheap that your man refused to gut them for me so I had to do it myself. No big deal and it was about time I learned how to do that myself anyway.

BBQ fresh Sardine with olive oil and lots of garlic is a mighty med food!

Xiney

unkel wrote: »

You're in Galway - surely you can get fresh sardines from you local fish monger? They are really, really cheap. So cheap that your man refused to gut them for me so I had to do it myself. No big deal and it was about time I learned how to do that myself anyway.

BBQ fresh Sardine with olive oil and lots of garlic is a mighty med food!

No sardines at the fish monger. So I bought makerel instead. It was delicious :P

Seaneh

Xiney wrote: »

No sardines at the fish monger. So I bought makerel instead. It was delicious :P

Sometimes in Irish fishmongers they will have them listed as pilchard, can be a bit confusing.

CJhaughey

Seaneh wrote: »

Sometimes in Irish fishmongers they will have them listed as pilchard, can be a bit confusing.

Sardines are pilchards, they are the same animal.
Sardina Pilchardus is the latin name for them.
I had some very fresh ones last year, I made a masala sauce and fried them in the sauce with onions. Awesome.

Xiney

Seaneh wrote: »

Sometimes in Irish fishmongers they will have them listed as pilchard, can be a bit confusing.

there were no pilchard either.

gollem_1975

pasta con sarde ( see jamie's italy for the recipe )

biko

You can put the sardines in a tapenade with mixed olives and garlic.
Or on pizza.

onlyrocknroll

Made this recently and thought that it worked very well, even though its a little simple.

Fry or grill fresh sardines (or mackerel). Then serve it on toast on some rocket and thinly sliced chorizo and squeeze some lemon juice over it.

Seaneh

CJhaughey wrote: »

Sardines are pilchards, they are the same animal.
Sardina Pilchardus is the latin name for them.
I had some very fresh ones last year, I made a masala sauce and fried them in the sauce with onions. Awesome.

I know this. But some fishmongers use one name or the other.
So If you go in looking for sardines you might not find it listed on their price list and if you'd never heard of them being called pilchards you probably wouldn't know that they were the same thing.

Meemars

Sardinas Grelhadas! In Portugal they charcoal grill them - absolutely the most divine thing ever!
For me, most fish is best with minimal messing around: oil, garlic, salt, pepper - grill. mmmmmmmm

unkel

Meemars wrote: »

Sardinas Grelhadas! In Portugal they charcoal grill them - absolutely the most divine thing ever!
For me, most fish is best with minimal messing around: oil, garlic, salt, pepper - grill. mmmmmmmm

I've never been to Portugal but yup that's pretty much the same way sardines are done anywhere on the mediterranean I've been to

silverharp

this is very tasty and its very easy to cook and its better then the sum of its parts if that makes sense. Its from one of Derina Allen's books. From Sicily I believe.


Pasta with Sardines

350g tagliatelle
2 tbls olive oil
110g onion chopped
50g pine nuts lightly toasted
50g raisins plumped up in hot water
2-4 tablespoons chopped fennel leaves (normally leave out)
2 tins best quality sardines in olive oil
4 tbls grated parmesan


Cook the pasta.

In a pan , heat the oil add onions cook until golden then add the nuts, raisins and fennel, toss well

when the pasta is nearly done add the sardines to the pan with the sauce for a minute or so.

then serve with the parmesan on top