Description
Tinned sardines warmed in a sizzling garlic, white wine, and smoked paprika sauce, built on the oil from the tins. Fifteen minutes, one small skillet, and bread for every last drop.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/4 cup ;olive oil (use the reserved oil from the sardine tins, topped up with extra-virgin olive oil)
- 6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (less if you’re sensitive to heat)
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup ;dry white wine
- 2 tins spicy sardines in olive oil (6 to 10 fish), drained with the oil reserved
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 lemon, for squeezing over finished dish, wedges for serving
- Toasted baguette slices, for serving
Instructions
- Combine the reserved tin oil with enough olive oil to make 1/4 cup and warm it in a small skillet over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until tender and barely golden, watching closely so the thin slices don’t burn.
- Add the red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, and the whole piri piri if your tins came with one, and cook 1 minute.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and add the wine, scraping up anything stuck to the pan. Swirl, tilting the pan to work the wine into the oil, and simmer about 2 minutes, until the wine has reduced a bit and the sauce looks glossy.
- Reduce the heat to low and nestle the sardines into the sauce in a single layer. Spoon the sauce over them for about 2 minutes, just until heated through.
- Remove from the heat, scatter the cilantro, season with the salt, and squeeze a bit of lemon over the sardines. Taste and adjust. Serve in the pan, still sizzling, with toasted bread and lemon wedges.
Notes
Taste a bit of a sardine first. Tins vary in heat, so use it to decide how much of the pepper flakes to add.
Spoon, don’t stir. Basting coats the sardines just as well and keeps them whole. Even a gentle stir will break them.
Use a small skillet, just big enough to hold the sardines in one layer. Any wider and the oil spreads too thin to baste with or dip bread into.
Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat gently in a skillet over low.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Portuguese