Sardines are a fish belonging to the category of blue fish. Very similar to anchovies, with which they are often confused, they are a fish widely used in the Sicilian tradition. One of the many recipes that tells the story of this land through taste is that of sardines a beccafico. Originally this recipe was prepared by grilling a small bird with tasty meat, the beccafico, in the oven. Over time it has been replaced by sardines, poor fish, more accessible to less wealthy families. We define sardines as a poor fish, but we well know how rich they are in flavor and beneficial properties. They are in fact rich in vitamins, phosphorus and omega 3, with positive effects on circulation and the correct maintenance of cholesterol levels. So here is a recipe that is worth trying. Simple to prepare, we will need equally poor ingredients, in order not to leave today’s theme. I’m talking about breadcrumbs, raisins and pine nuts, going to create a filling, with which the sardines will be rolled. It is cooked gently in the oven for a few minutes, without altering the characteristics of the fish, just for the time to brown the surface. In fact, sardines have a tender and delicate meat, which cooks quickly. The ingredient that in my opinion gives the original and unique touch to the palate is Orange juice. We will pour it on the sardine rolls, before baking, creating a pleasant contrast between the tasty meat of the sardine, with the sweet tone of the raisins and the orange. It goes without saying that there are variations and customizations of this recipe as well. Some use lemon juice instead of orange, I preferred the latter. There are other variants always inherent to the filling, which include minced garlic, or the use of onion. In some regions it is common practice to fry sardines instead of baking them. For this recipe I found the sardines already cleaned, otherwise cleaning the sardines will be unpleasant to the eye, but very simple. Just remove the head by making a clean cut with the knife. Then we remove the entrails going to incise the belly with a scissors. From here on, you can use your hands, perhaps using gloves. By inserting the thumb into the belly of the fish, we remove the entrails and open the fillet in two. To remove the bone, we can insert the thumb under the part that was attached to the head, and delicately, in order not to flake the very tender meat, we follow the line of the bone up to the tail, which if desired we can leave the fillet intact. In this way we will have opened our sardines like a book. We rinse under water to remove blood and offal residues.

Preparation

1

Having the sardines already cleaned and boned, let’s start with the preparation of the filling.

2

In a pan, heat a little oil, and go to toast the breadcrumbs, turning well to make it toast everything. Meanwhile, put the raisins to soften in a glass with warm water.

3

We pour the breadcrumbs into a small bowl, and combine the flavors: the chopped parsley, the anchovy fillet coarsely chopped by hand, the softened raisins, the pine nuts, a pinch of salt (not exaggerating since we already have the savory flavor of anchovies and sardines same), and black pepper. We add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to make our filling easier to distribute and also softer in cooking.

4

We open our sardine fillets like a book and place a teaspoon of filling on each, pressing lightly, starting from the end where the head was.

5

We roll up the fillets, leaving the tail out, if necessary we stop with a toothpick.

6

In a pan greased with a drizzle of oil, arrange our sardine rolls in a row, placing bay leaves between them. We sprinkle the surface with the leftover filling, add a further drizzle of oil and pour the juice of half an orange.

7

We can now bake at 180 ° C in a static oven, preheated for about 10-15 minutes. The time can also be indicative in relation to the size of your fillets. If the sardines are small and thin, they will take a short time to cook, even if in principle it is a meat that does not require long cooking. When the surface is golden, we can take our sardines out of the oven and serve hot.

Curiosity:

We accompany our sardines in combination with seared vegetables, to dampen the already full flavor of the dish. Or we can serve them on one puree of celery or broccoli.

In this case I cooked in a pan with a little onion, a potato and a stalk of celery, until softened, with the help of some vegetable broth. I blended everything to have a smooth and homogeneous cream. We can add salt and pepper, and add aromatic herbs such as chives or parsley if desired.