Sardines on toast gets a refresh with this tasty lunch dish filled with zesty fresh flavours

When in season, sardines are such an inexpensive fish and so easy to cook with. Here they are simply baked with a few tasty ingredients scattered over and the end result is stunning. Serve with crusty bread for a light lunch.

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Baked sardines with capers, raisins and preserved lemon

serves 4

8 whole sardines (approx. 85g each), scaled and gutted

extra virgin olive oil

1–2 preserved lemons (depending on their size)

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

30g raisins

30g pine nuts

small handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper



Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

Put the sardines into a roasting tray or baking dish big enough for them to lie in a single layer. Pour over a generous glug of olive oil.

Cut the preserved lemon(s) into quarters, then chop the rind into small pieces. Sprinkle over the sardines along with the garlic, chilli, raisins, pine nuts, capers, parsley and some salt and pepper.

Bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes, until the sardines are turning golden. Remove from the oven and serve either hot or at room temperature.

Note: If sardines are out of season, then small herring or mackerel are great substitutes. For a vegetarian version of this dish, slices of eggplant cut approximately 1cm thick can be layered in the dish and cooked as above, but add on an extra 10 minutes for the eggplant to become tender.

This is an edited extract from The Flexible Pescatarian by Jo Pratt (Quarto UK, RRP $39.99). Next week, salted cod croquetas

The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. For ratings in your region, check: UK; Australia; US.

