The classic way to eat sardines – grilled on a barbecue with a little lemon – is difficult to beat, but if you fancy a change, and are fond of garlic, why not try them in the classic Spanish al ajillo style? Here’s our recipe on how to make it.
INGREDIENTS
• 500 g sardines (not too big)
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 2 dried chilli peppers
• 150 mls Extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 tbspns cider vinegar (vinagre de sidra)
• Chopped parsley
• Salt
METHOD
Clean the sardines, removing the head and scraping out the guts. This can usually be done with bare hand, but a pair of kitchen scissors can be useful. Leave in iced water for a few minutes, then drain and dry with kitchen paper.
Slice the top and bottom off the garlic cloves, peel them and slice finely. Then heat a good slug of olive oil in a frying pan, add the chillies and fry the garlic until it’s just starting to go golden (be careful not to burn).
Strain the oil into a bowl and put the garlic to one side.
Now you can choose to fry or bake the sardines. If you’re frying them, wipe the pan clean and arrange the sardines like the spokes of a wheel, tail outwards. Cover with the garlic-flavoured oil and place on high heat.
Once the sardines start to cook, add a sprinkle of vinegar, the fried garlic slices, chillies, and chopped parsley. Cover the pan and turn the heat off. The sardines should be cooked after two or three minutes in the remaining heat.
To bake, heat the oven to 200 degrees, place the sardines in earthenware dishes (large or small, depending on whether you want to serve together or individually) and cover with the oil. Once they start to bubble, add vinegar and other ingredients, turn the oven off.
The sardines are cooked when they are a very pale pink colour throughout. However, you may prefer to cook until they’re white.
CHEF’S TIP
If the sardines are large and plump you may need to cook them for a couple more minutes.
The ajillo technique can be used on all types of seafood and meat. Most popular on Lanzarote are the garlic prawn’s beloved by tourists for decades.
