Summer is so nearly officially here. I can feel it. And smell it as the back yard BBQs crank up. It’s my favourite foodie time filled with sensational summer salads, berries, cherries and stone fruit. Oh and watermelon and figs. Oh damn, mangoes too. But most of all I love that we slip in more fish meals compared with the colder months. So I asked my friend and brand new blogger, for a favourite fish recipe to share.
About our expert:
Karen Kingham is a wife, mother, cook, wannabe photographer and an Accredited Practising Dietitian. She was inspired to start her blog to share good things to know, eat and enjoy. And by first post impressions, Green Tea & Treacle ‘a lot of green, a little sweet’, is going to be a stunningly beautiful but highly practical resource.
Char-grilled sardines on the BBQ have to be one of my favourite Mediterranean-style meals. And, teaming their salty crunchy texture with the fresh tang of a lemony salsa verde works for me on so many levels. I like my salsa verde beautifully smooth (as does my Miss 10 who eats it by the spoonful) but if you like it more rustic and chunky, ditch the food processor and try a mortar and pestle, stirring through the finely chopped herbs, lemon juice and olive oil at the end. Or have a go at Emma’s Kitchen garden salsa verde.
Sardines not only tick plenty of boxes for taste, they’ve also got great nutrition credentials; healthy fats which are kind to your heart and blood vessels and little bones that are a brilliant source of bone strengthening calcium. And in true Mediterranean style this meal combines the benefits these little fishes with the nutrition bounty of fresh culinary herbs.
BBQ sardines with salsa verde
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g small fresh sardines (you may find them called pilchards), scaled and gutted
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup olive oil plus 2 tsp extra
Cherry or baby roma tomatoes- trussed if you can get them
2 tbsp olive oil
8 slices sourdough
Lemon wedges to serve
Salsa Verde
45g can anchovies, drained
2 garlic cloves, chopped
finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
¼ cup baby capers, rinsed, drained
4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley or the fresh herb combination of your choice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
1. Wash your sardines well and pat dry. Combine lemon juice and olive oil in a flat tray and sardines and toss gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200C or 180C fan. Place tomatoes on a large baking tray, drizzle with extra 2 tsp of oil and roast for 10-15 minutes
3. Meanwhile, make salsa verde. Combine all ingredients together in a food processor and process till it’s the way you like it.
4. Preheat barbecue or char-grill on high, brush bread with olive oil and char-grill 2-3 minutes each side or until browned. Next, drain sardines and grill quickly for 2 minutes each side or until cooked through and the skin is slightly charred.
5. Serve your sardines with salsa verde, roasted tomatoes, char-grilled sour dough and lemon wedges
A word of advice; if you’re not a fan of the little, edible bones choose small fish and you’ll barely notice them. Or go for bigger fish so you can easily remove them. Enjoy! And I’d love you to jump over and check out my blog too.
Editor’s comment:
Huge congrats Karen on starting your blog…I know it’s been a long, labour of love. We had salsa verde this week too and Miss 11 slurped along. There’s something so…well…Mediterranean…about the act of snipping herbs around my garden, with my surgical instrument shaped, French herb scissors thanks to a gift from Hannah Gilbert. There are many more layers to the Mediterranean way of eating as we all know Scoop lovelies, and for latest research you may like to also check out our archived post on Cracking the health secrets of the Mediterranean Diet. And of course we’d love to hear how you go fish in summer?
