Butterflied sardines stuffed with tomatoes and capers

How to make Butterflied sardines stuffed with tomatoes and capers recipe - Ask your fishmonger to butterfly the sardines for you. To do this, they need to be scaled and the backbone removed, before being flattened. Papillon sardines farcies aux tomates et aux câpres recette

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

4–6 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp capers, rinsed and gently squeezed dry

handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra, for garnish

2 garlic cloves, crushed

12 fresh sardines, butterflied

a little olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Stir together the tomatoes, capers, parsley, and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper, and stir again.

2 Lay the sardines flat, skin-side down, and spoon on the tomato mixture. Either roll the sardines lengthwise, or just fold them over to enclose the filling, then place them all on a baking sheet without crowding. Drizzle with a little olive oil and the lemon juice.

3 Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the sardines are cooked through and the filling is warm. Garnish with extra parsley, if you wish, and serve with a crisp green salad.

Variations:

You could use mackerel in place of the sardines.

Butterflied sardines stuffed with tomatoes and capers