Kate's baked sardines (includes graphic images ;) )

[lostkat]

Mmmmmm, I saw some fresh sardines at the fish counter the other day whilst I was buying my scallops and had to buy some. £1.38 for 4 good sized ones. Bargain!!! I enjoyed the salsa I made for the scallops last night sooo much that I decided to use the rest of the ingredients and make it again tonight to go with the sardines. I also did some oven roasted wedges.

Baked sardines
Serves 2

Ingredients
4-6 fresh sardines. Make sure they have shiny eyes and skin.
1-2 lemons
Pinch of oregano. Fresh would be best, but I only had dried
Olive oil
Freshly ground Salt & Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 5.

2. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRFF with their heads!! I swear the only reason I'm writing this is because I wanted to say that :D Chop off the heads of the sardines, gut them (if it hasn't already been done) and give them a quick wash/dry. Gutting a fish is well easy. I'm sure there are loads of sites that will tell you how though.

http://www.lostkat.co.uk/DSC00642.jpg

3. zest and juice one of the lemons and slice the other. If you're only using 1 lemon, just zest and juice one half and slice the other.

http://www.lostkat.co.uk/DSC00644.jpg

4. Put the sardines into a baking tray and place the lemon slices between the fish. Drizzle the lemon juice and some olive oil over the top of the fish, then sprinkle over the zest/oregano and season to taste.

http://www.lostkat.co.uk/DSC00645.jpg

5. Bung in the oven for around 20 mins until the flesh flakes easily. Serve with nice things.

http://www.lostkat.co.uk/DSC00647.jpg

[Tak]

Looks yum :) Would be a meal just for me but I could possibly try it when Mic is on nights - would have to find somewhere local that did fresh fish; think there is a permanent market van in commercial road...will have to investigate :)

[BBx]

EWwwwwwwwwwwwww guts!!! :p

Looks bloody yum though Kate!! :D

BB x

[vix]

I'm so squeamish about fish but I love it too :/

Got a whole trout in the freezer that I'm too soft to cook :(

[Stan_Lite]

I love fresh sardines. Next time I see some, I'm having them.

[lostkat]

Vix - if you don't like dealing with the innards of fish, just get the fishmonger to do it. Even the bloke in Morissons will gut and prep a fish for you :)

[vix]

Vix - if you don't like dealing with the innards of fish, just get the fishmonger to do it. Even the bloke in Morissons will gut and prep a fish for you :)

yeah, I would do that.

I was told that trout needs to be cooked with it's head on though :/ God knows if it has innards or not.

[Stan_Lite]

I used to be a keen angler and have caught and cooked a great many trout. I've rarely cooked trout with it's head on - tastes fine headless to me :)

[vix]

Not to do with the taste but the fact that it falls to bits. Apparently! I dunno, I just do what him mum tells me. 'Here's a fish, cook it with it's head on'.

[Stan_Lite]

Probably depends how you cook it. My favourite way to cook it is to lop off it's head and tail, gut it and bung it under the grill (same goes for most fish actually).

[lostkat]

They only fall to bits if you cook them for too long. Same applies to all fish really :) You definitely need to remove its innards first though. Get Phil to do it :p

[Muban]

They look yum. I must admit I got put off sardines by having the tinned kind with tomato sauce when I was little. I like almost all fish though, so I think I will give it a go, certainly sounds and looks tasty :)

[Jonny69]

I've become allergic to fish but I get cravings every now and then. Mmmm I used to love tinned sardines.

Hold on, those potato wedges and salsa look familiar :huh: