Butterflied sardines with parmesan crust and chunky chips

A Mediterranean take on a British favourite.

Serves
4
Preparation time
25 minutes
Cooking time
30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 sardines, gutted and cleaned
  • 50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
  • 50g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 50g seasoned plain flour
  • oil for deep frying

For the chips:

  • 900g potatoes, peeled
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • ½ tsp salt flakes
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • lemon wedges and flat leaf parsley sprigs, to serve

Method

  1. Remove the heads from the sardines. Lay out the fi sh, cut side down, and press down along the backbone with your thumb to loosen the bone. Turn the fi sh over and gently pull away the backbone, cutting it off at the tail. Remove any remaining small bones with tweezers if desired.
  2. Mix together the cheese, breadcrumbs and chives, and spread out on a plate. Put eggs in a shallow bowl, and the fl our on a plate.
  3. Dip the fish into the flour, then the beaten egg, followed by the crumb mixture, to coat completely. Chill while preparing the chips.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Cut the potatoes into large chunky chips and cook in a pan of lightly salted water for 5 minutes, then drain well. Return to a dry pan and add the oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Put the lid on the pan and shake vigorously. Arrange on a baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes until crispy and cooked through.
  5.  Ten minutes before the chips are ready, heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the sardines in batches for 2 minutes each side. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and serve at once with chunky chips, lemon wedges and flat leaf parsley.

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