Simply seared sardines over hot coals, served with a salad of deliberately charred peppers, red onion, black olives, and red wine vinegar. The twist comes from a warm paprika-cayenne oil poured over right off the fire, like an instant escabeche but brighter.
Ingredients
- 12 pieces fresh sardines, gutted
- 3 pieces red bell peppers
- 1 piece yellow bell pepper
- 1 piece red onion
- 80 g pitted black olives
- 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 piece lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 0.5 bunches flat-leaf parsley
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground black pepper
Method
- Light the grill and set up the coals with a very hot side for searing and a gentler side without direct flames for finishing or keeping warm; the grates should be scorching hot and lightly oiled before adding the fish.
- Place the whole bell peppers directly on the hot coals or right on the grates; turn them until the skin is black and blistered, and the flesh begins to collapse under the tongs.
- Enclose the peppers in a covered bowl, let them cool slightly until the skin practically falls off on its own, then roughly peel them, leaving a few smoky traces behind; remove the seeds and stems, then tear the flesh into strips.
- Toss the peppers with the thinly sliced red onion, olives, red wine vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice; let the salad rest while the coals stabilize.
- In a small grill-safe saucepan or metal dish, gently heat some olive oil with the crushed garlic, smoked paprika, and cayenne over the cooler zone; remove as soon as the garlic is fragrant and the oil turns red, without letting it fry hard.
- Pat the sardines dry, salt them lightly, oil their skin, and place them over the direct heat zone; let them sear without moving them until the skin is marked, firms up, and releases easily from the grates.
- Carefully flip the sardines and continue cooking just until the eyes are opaque, the flesh pulls away from the bone, and the skin remains shiny rather than dry; move them to the indirect zone if the fat causes flare-ups.
- Arrange the charred pepper salad on a large platter, top with the sardines, drizzle with the warm paprika-cayenne oil, then finish with lemon zest, chopped flat-leaf parsley, and a final squeeze of lemon juice.
- Serve immediately, while the sardines are still hot and the salad is warm or at room temperature, with the smoky-tart juices collected at the bottom of the platter.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 414.8 kcal
- Protein
- 7.58 g
- Carbohydrate
- 6.32 g
- Fat
- 39.76 g
- Fibre
- 4.7 g
- Calcium
- 45.24 mg
- Iron
- 2.49 mg
- Magnesium
- 24.41 mg
