Grilled Sardines

Sardines are one of the fish that you can get; they are cheap and very good for you so most of the time we do not bother with them.  The fact that when you are any where in Europe a round the Med you will find grilled sardines at every street corner, well not every corner but a lot . So why do we not eat them as much as we should, I do not know.  This following dish is a real treat and very easy to make so have a go.

You will need

12 sardines

Some plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

100ml/3fl oz olive oil

85ml/3fl oz red wine vinegar

2 medium onion

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig rosemary

1 bay leaf

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 red chillies

10 to 20 cherry tomatoes.

1 tsp salt

1 small bunch fresh flat parsley

4 lemons

Some good bread

First start by gutting, scale and remove the heads from the sardines.  Now if you do not want to do I am sure you can ask you fishmonger to do so for you.  Then dust them in the second flour and lay on a tray or rack ready to grill.

Now take your onions a slice them as thin as you can, then slice the garlic as thin as you can.  Now put this in a pan with the oil, red wine vinegar, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, sliced chillies and on a low heat cook until the onions are soft. Now what you are doing here is making a really fine sauce for the sardines to sit on.

Now put your sardines under the grill or on the barbeque if you like.  Turn them after about 3 or 4 minutes so the cook on both sides.  When they are half cooked throw the cherry tomatoes under the grill as well and let them grill.

Finally take your sardines from under the grill and add the tomatoes to the sauce. Give it a good stir round and lay this in a dish and the sardines over them . Cover with a good load of fresh parsley and loads of lemon wedges.

Then go out and sit in the garden with some good bread and think of the summer as you have a real honest fish dish.