The trick with this recipe is to get your oven as hot as you can so the skin of the sardines can blister and crackle in the short time it takes for the rich, oily flesh to cook through. Pairing that delicious garlic-infused flesh with some crisp leaves creates an irresistible plateful. You can use any leaves you fancy here but I particularly like those with a delicate bitterness such as frisée or white chicory. Crisp-leaved romaine lettuce is good too. Add a few herbs to the mix if you can – chervil, parsley, chives and sorrel all work well.
Serves 4
3 garlic cloves, cut into 1–2mm thick slices
A stem of rosemary, leaves only, roughly chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
12 sardines, scaled and gutted
4 large handfuls of crisp salad leaves
Juice of ½ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 250oC/Gas 9 or its hottest possible setting. Place a large roasting tin in the oven to get really hot.
In a bowl, mix the garlic and chopped rosemary, if using, together with the extra virgin olive oil.
Take the roasting tin from the oven, spoon a little of this pungent mix over the base, then quickly but carefully arrange the sardines in the tin. Spoon the remaining garlic, rosemary and oil over the fish and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 8–10 minutes until the sardines are cooked through and fragrant.
Transfer the sardines to plates and pile the crisp salad leaves to one side. Add the lemon juice to the pan, mix with the oily pan juices, then spoon over both fish and leaves. Serve with bread.