Sardines with chickpeas, lemon & parsley

cherry tomato cherry tomatoes chickpea chickpeas lemon lemons oily fish one-pot parsley rich sardine sardines white wine

N/A

Source

Ingredients

50g plain flour

10 sardines , scaled and cleaned (8 if large)

zest 2 lemons

large bunch flat-leaf parsley , leaves only, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves , finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

glass white wine (about 125ml)

2x cans chickpeas or butterbeans, drained and rinsed

250g pack cherry tomatoes , halved

Method

Season the flour and scatter over a large plate. Dip the sardines in the flour, one at a time. Mix together the lemon zest, parsley and half of the chopped garlic and set aside.

Put a very large pan (a paella pan is ideal or a large sturdy baking tray with a lip) on top of the barbecue and heat until very hot. Add the oil, heat for a few seconds, then lay the floured sardines in the oil in one layer. Fry for 3 mins until the underside is golden, then turn over and fry for another 3 mins. Lift out of the pan and onto a plate.

Fry the remaining garlic (add another splash of oil if you need to) for 1 min until softened. Pour in the white wine, scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and boil for 1 min or until reduced by half.

Tip in the chickpeas or butter beans and tomatoes, then stir until heated through. Season with plenty of pepper and salt to taste, then nestle the fish back into the pan. Take off the heat, sprinkle with the parsley mix and serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices.