I’m very fond of fresh sardines, which I’m flavouring here with classic Sicilian ingredients - olive oil, olives, tangy capers and lemon – to cut through their strong, rich flavour. This dish would be great for a starter or a light lunch.
Method
1. First, segment a lemon. Using a fine, sharp knife, cut a slice off each end so that you can stand the lemon on the board. Then cut the peel and the pith off on all sides, revealing the flesh. Cut along each segment within the white membrane, cutting out each segment of lemon flesh. Cut the lemon segments into pieces, mix with half tsp of olive oil to soften the lemon and mellow its flavour and set aside
2. Mix the capers with quarter tsp of olive oil and set aside. Mix the olives with quarter tsp of olive oil and set aside. The reason I do this to mellow the flavour of the olives and the capers.
3. Make a paste by crumbling the Knorr Fish Stock Cube into 1 tsp of olive oil until dissolved. Pat the sardines dry inside and out with kitchen paper. Season the sardines by rubbing the paste inside and outside the sardines. The good thing about using this paste is that it sticks to the sardines.
4. Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Pour a little olive oil into the hot griddle pan then wipe it out with a cloth, taking care not to burn yourself. This will oil the pan so that the sardines don’t stick to it.
5. Add the sardines to the red-hot griddle pan and cook for 2 minutes. Turn over the sardines very carefully and cook for 2 more minutes or until cooked through (depending on size). Spoon a tsp of olive oil over the sardines in the griddle pan and squeeze over lemon juice from the lemon half.
6. Transfer the sardines to a serving plate. Sprinkle over capers and top with lemon segments and sliced olives. I like to be generous with my garnish. Decorate with the parsley sprigs and serve at once.
