Grilled Sardines Recipe With Tomato Confit & Tapenade

Robert Thompson's grilled sardines recipe takes the idea of sardines on toast to a whole new level. Confit tomatoes and garlicky tapenade are fantastic supporting actors for the sardines, which can be grilled or barbecued. Start on the tomatoes early to give yourself plenty of time to prepare this fish dish

Grilled sardines recipe

Starter

Easy

45 minutes plus 6 hours confiting of tomatoes

4

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Method
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1.
Slice the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a lined baking tray
2.
Rub each tomato with a little olive oil and season lightly before placing in an oven at 110˚C/gas mark 1/4 for 6 hours. Alternatively, you could roast the tomatoes for 90 minutes at 130°C/gas mark 1/2, but be aware that this will lessen the taste
3.
After 6 hours the tomatoes should have shrunk but remained juicy inside
4.
Place the olives and garlic in a pan and pour in enough olive oil to cover. Bring to a very gentle simmer and cook until the olives and garlic are very soft
5.
Drain well and then transfer the olives and garlic, along with the capers and anchovies, to a food processor. Gently pulse into a tapenade but do not let the ingredients lose their texture entirely. Finish with a little lemon juice and pepper
6.
Rub the ciabatta slices with olive oil and then chargrill on each side. Rub with garlic and then top each slice with a very thin coating of the tapenade. Top each ciabatta with 3 halves of tomato and 5 basil leaves
7.
Rub the sardines with olive oil before cooking under a hot grill or barbecue for 3-4 minutes. Divide the sardines across the ciabattas and serve
How to butterfly sardines
Remove the head from the sardine. Place the sardine on its side and cut down from the tail along the belly, opening the fish up. Flip the fish over and lie cut side down so that 2 flaps (or butterfly wings) present themselves. Press down firmly until the fish is flat against the surface, flip over again and remove the spine of the fish. Trim off the belly and remove any other bones
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Ingredients

  • 6 whole sardines, butterflied
  • 4 slices of ciabatta
  • 12 baby plum tomatoes
  • 20 basil leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 30g of anchovy
  • 30g of capers
  • 100g of Kalamata olives
  • 3 tbsp of lemon juice
  • olive oil
  • Bart salt
  • Bart pepper

Equipment

  1. Barbecue

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Sardines on toast are transformed in this grilled sardines recipe by Robert Thompson. Confit tomatoes and olive tapenade add savoury flavour to this sardine dish

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Meet the chef

Robert Thompson

Robert Thompson