Sarde a beccafico — sardines with pine nuts and raisins, with lemon potatoes
Sardines rolled around golden breadcrumbs with anchovies, raisins and pine nuts, scented with orange and bay, with roast potatoes to make a complete dinner.
Ingredients for two
| 600 g | Fresh sardines, gutted and headed by the fishmonger about 600 g whole sardines weighed before preparation, 10–12 fish, yielding about 360 g once butterflied by the fishmonger with heads and backbones removed and tails left on; fresh on the day |
| 50 g | Breadcrumbs 5 heaped tbsp, made from pareve bread; reserve 20 g of the finished stuffing for the top |
| 12 g | Anchovy fillets in oil (50 g jar or tin, 30 g drained) 3 drained fillets; for one fish plate and one fish-free plate, add 2 fillets only to the sardines' half of the stuffing |
| 20 g | Pine nuts 2 tbsp |
| 25 g | Raisins 2 tbsp small raisins |
| 15 g | Flat-leaf parsley a handful of leaves, chopped |
| 5 g | Garlic 1 small clove, very finely chopped |
| 200 g | Oranges 1 orange: finely grated zest and juice (about 40 g) from one half; cut 5–6 thin half-moons from the other half and squeeze the remainder (about 20 g) |
| 60 g | Lemon ½ lemon: 20 g juice |
| 2.4 g | Dried bay leaves 8 whole leaves, one between each pair of rolls; fresh bay if available |
| 4 g | White sugar 1 tsp: 2 g in the citrus sauce, 2 g sprinkled over the rolls |
| 45 g | Extra virgin olive oil 15 g for the potatoes, 15 g for the stuffing, 5 g for the dish, 5 g in the sauce, 5 g drizzled over the breadcrumbs on top |
| 400 g | Potatoes 3 medium or 5 small potatoes, unpeeled, thoroughly washed and cut into 1.5 cm-thick wedges |
| 100 g | Water lukewarm water to soak the raisins, then discarded |
| 4 g | Fine salt 2 g for the potatoes, 2 g for the sardines; the anchovies salt the stuffing |
| 0.8 g | Ground black pepper about ⅓ tsp |
Method
- Soak the raisins in the 100 g lukewarm water. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. While it heats, wash the potatoes without peeling them, cut into 1.5 cm wedges, pat dry and toss with 15 g oil, 2 g salt and half the pepper. Spread on a baking tray and put on the lower shelf as soon as the oven reaches temperature. Roast for 40–45 minutes, turning after 20 minutes.
- Toast the pine nuts in a small dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden, then set aside. Pour 15 g oil into the same pan, add the 3 anchovy fillets mashed with a fork, and stir over a low heat for 1 minute until they dissolve into the oil. Add the breadcrumbs and toast over a medium-low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly; stop when they smell of toast and turn a light hazelnut colour. Transfer to a bowl to stop them browning further.
- Halve the orange. Finely grate the zest from one half, avoiding the white pith, and squeeze that half to obtain about 40 g juice. Cut 5–6 thin half-moon slices from the other half and squeeze the remainder for about 20 g juice: 15 g juice goes into the stuffing and 45 g into the sauce. Drain the raisins, pat dry and mix into the breadcrumbs with the pine nuts, parsley, garlic, zest, 15 g orange juice and the remaining pepper. The stuffing should be moist and hold together when pinched, without becoming pasty. Set aside 2 tbsp, about 20 g, for the top of the dish.
- Carefully pat the prepared sardines dry and lay them open, skin side down, on a board. Divide the 2 g salt and the stuffing over the flesh. Roll each sardine from the wide end towards the tail, without rolling so tightly that the filling is squeezed out. Arrange side by side, seam side down and tails pointing upwards, in a small baking dish greased with 5 g oil. Tuck a bay leaf and an orange half-moon between each pair of rolls.
- Mix 45 g orange juice, 10 g lemon juice, 5 g oil and 2 g sugar until the sugar dissolves; pour around and over the sardines. Scatter over the reserved 20 g stuffing, drizzle with 5 g oil and sprinkle with the remaining 2 g sugar. Bake on the shelf above the potato tray just after turning the potatoes. The covered chicken dish for the variation goes beside the fish or on a separate shelf, never above the fish. Allow 15–18 minutes and check after 15: the flesh should be opaque, the breadcrumbs on top golden, and the surface of the juices lightly caramelised.
- Take the sardines out and rest in their dish for 5 minutes, uncovered, to keep the breadcrumbs crisp. Meanwhile, check the potatoes: a knife tip should slide in without resistance and the edges should be golden. Take them out and drizzle with the remaining 10 g lemon juice.
- Remove the bay leaves and orange slices. Lift the rolls with a small spatula and serve 5–6 sardines per person with the potatoes, pouring the citrus juices from the dish around the rolls. Serve warm, straight away: this brings out the pine nuts and the contrast between the raisins, anchovies and lemon.
Fish-free
- Fresh sardines, gutted and headed by the fishmonger → Minced chicken, freshly minced by the butcher 320 g (quantity for two portions, as throughout the recipe: 160 g per diner, making 5 meatballs; ask the butcher for a mixture of breast and thigh)
- add Eggs 55 g (1 beaten egg for 320 g chicken; half, about 25 g, for the 160 g used when making one fish plate and one fish-free plate)
- add Extra virgin olive oil 5 g (to grease the second dish)
- without Anchovy fillets in oil (50 g jar or tin, 30 g drained)
- For one fish plate and one fish-free plate, the usual arrangement of sardines for one and meatballs for the other, toast the plain breadcrumbs in the 15 g oil at step 2 and immediately divide between two bowls. Add 2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped and mashed with a fork, only to the sardine bowl: the chicken bowl must never touch fish. At step 3, add half the raisins, pine nuts, parsley, garlic, zest and juice to each bowl; reserve 1 tbsp stuffing from each. Also divide the citrus sauce from step 5, about 30 g each, the bay leaves, 5 for the sardines and 3 for the meatballs, and the orange slices before any contact with the raw proteins. Use 1 g salt on the sardines and 1 g in the meatballs.
- Let the stuffing in the chicken bowl cool for 3 minutes, then mix with 160 g chicken mince, half the beaten egg, about 25 g, and 1 g salt. With damp hands, shape into 5 meatballs, 4 cm across. Put in a second small dish greased with 5 g oil, with their share of the citrus sauce, bay leaves and orange slices, and scatter over the reserved spoonful of stuffing. Seal the dish tightly with foil.
- Put the covered dish into the oven at the same time as the sardines, beside them on the same shelf or on a separate shelf, never directly above the fish dish. Keep the meat covered while the fish is in the oven. Allow 15–18 minutes covered. When the sardines come out, remove the foil and let the meatballs brown for 4–5 minutes on their own in the oven while the sardines rest: they should reach 74°C at the centre, or cut one open to check for firm meat, clear juices and no pink centre. Serve with the same lemon potatoes and their own citrus juices, keeping the fish and chicken dishes and utensils separate.
Strict kashrut: keep the meatballs covered with foil while the uncovered fish is in the same oven; brown them only once the fish has been removed. Without an oven, poach the 5 meatballs, covered, over a low heat for 12 minutes in a small sauté pan with their share of the citrus sauce and 30 g water, turning halfway through, then scatter over the reserved stuffing when serving, as for hraimi. If both diners are having chicken, omit the anchovies altogether and keep the stuffing plain; use 320 g chicken, the whole egg and 2 g salt, and make 10 meatballs in the 22 × 18 cm dish. Bake covered for 18–20 minutes, then uncovered for 5 minutes. Use separate dishes and utensils for fish and meat.
Lighter version
- Extra virgin olive oil : 35 g
- Potatoes : 300 g
Use 10 g less oil on the potatoes, 5 g for 300 g, and a quarter fewer potatoes; the stuffing and juices stay the same.
On your plate
Recipe
1137 kcal · protein 71 g · carbs 72 g · fat 60 g
Quantities per person
- 300 g Fresh sardines, gutted and headed by the fishmonger
- 25 g Breadcrumbs
- 6 g Anchovy fillets in oil (50 g jar or tin, 30 g drained)
- 10 g Pine nuts
- 12.5 g Raisins
- 7.5 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 2.5 g Garlic
- 100 g Oranges
- 30 g Lemon
- 1.2 g Dried bay leaves
- 2 g White sugar
- 22.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 200 g Potatoes
- 50 g Water
- 2 g Fine salt
- 0.4 g Ground black pepper
Fish-free version
879 kcal · protein 46 g · carbs 72 g · fat 42 g
Quantities per person
- 25 g Breadcrumbs
- 10 g Pine nuts
- 12.5 g Raisins
- 7.5 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 2.5 g Garlic
- 100 g Oranges
- 30 g Lemon
- 1.2 g Dried bay leaves
- 2 g White sugar
- 25 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 200 g Potatoes
- 50 g Water
- 2 g Fine salt
- 0.4 g Ground black pepper
- 160 g Minced chicken, freshly minced by the butcher
- 27.5 g Eggs
Cooking tips
Tell the fishmonger exactly: “600 g sardines, butterflied, heads and backbones removed, tails left on.” They are weighed before preparation, leaving about 360 g ready to roll. If the fishmonger cannot butterfly them, do not make this dish that evening: no bones are removed at home. Anchovies dissolved in oil provide the savoury, salty base that balances the raisins and orange. For one fish plate and one fish-free plate, they go only into the sardines' half of the stuffing (see variation); the chicken's half stays plain. Small fish cook quickly: check after 15 minutes. The rolls can be assembled a few hours ahead and kept in the fridge, then cooked on the day of purchase. Cold the next day with a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon, the sardines are even better: make enough for Saturday lunch. The potatoes complete the meal; they are not part of the traditional stuffing.
Palermo tradition: breadcrumbs, anchovies, raisins, pine nuts, citrus and bay; method cross-checked against Max Mariola and Gambero Rosso (https://www.gamberorosso.it/ricette/secondi/sarde-a-beccafico/). Accompaniment and variation adapted for two.
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