serves
4
prep
10 minutes
cook
5 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
4
people
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
5
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Stream free On Demand
Simple Seafood
Watch the full episode here
G
Watch the full episode here
G
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes
- sea salt flakes and black pepper
- olive oil, for drizzling and shallow-frying
- 16 fresh sardine fillets, cleaned, butterflied
- 1 cup (150 g) plain flour
- ½ cup semolina flour
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
For the chermoula
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 bunch coriander, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped preserved lemons
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
1. To make the chermoula, place the chopped herbs and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. You can also do this in a mortar and pestle. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to a thick paste and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Slice the tomatoes in half, then use a cheese grater or microplane to grate into a medium bowl. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil and toss lightly to combine.
3. Take one sardine fillet and spread it with 1 tbsp prepared chermoula, then place a second sardine fillet on top and lightly press together. Repeat with the remaining sardines and chermoula.
4. Combine the flours in a medium bowl and season generously with salt and mix well to combine. Heat enough oil in a large frying pan to shallow-fry.
5. Once the oil is hot, gently dip the sardines into the flour mixture, then fry for 2 minutes per side in batches – take care not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer the cooked sardines to a paper-towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
6. Serve the Moroccan-stuffed sardines with the grated tomato and lemon wedges.
Photography by Jiwon Kim.
Want more from The Cook Up?
• Get the show recipes, articles and more
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Stream free On Demand
Simple Seafood
