We’re good at picking up fancy tins of fish but less good at using them! Here’s some nice inspiration for a tin of sardines.
Brushette with sardines and pickled cucumber – serves 4
- 1 x 120g tin of sardines in olive oil, drained
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp good olive oil
- ½ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways and deseeded
- 1 tbsp caster sugar, red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 beef tomato, halved horizontally
- ½ tsp chopped marjoram
- 1 tsp miniature capers in vinegar, drained
- 4 slices of sourdough bread, toasted
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- green salad, to serve
Remove the large bone in the middle of each sardine and transfer the sardines to a bowl. Mash with a fork, then stir through the lemon juice and 1 tbsp of the olive oil.
Cut the cucumber halves into 1cm slices. Place in a bowl with the sugar, ½ tsp of the salt and the vinegar. Mix well, cover with cling film and leave aside for 10 minutes. Pour off all the excess liquid and put the cucumber slices onto a clean tea towel, gather up the edges and squeeze out the excess moisture. Set aside in a bowl.
Scoop out and discard the tomato seeds. Finely chop the flesh to a pulp with the rest of the salt. Transfer to a colander and leave for 5 minutes to drain. Mix the drained tomatoes with the rest of the olive oil and season with black pepper, then add the marjoram and capers. Set aside.
Gently rub the toasted sourdough with the garlic clove. Divide the sardines equally on top of the sourdough slices and add a spoonful of the chopped tomato mixture. Finish with the pickled cucumber and serve with a dressed green salad.
(Original recipe from The Italian Deli Cookbook by Theo Randall, Quadrille, 2021.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 