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Pan-Fried Sardines With Salsa Verde

Fried sardines in salsa verde on a white plate.
Photo by Chelsie Craig

There are very few meals that wouldn’t benefit from an emerald burst of garlicky salsa verde. Roasted branzino? The egg sandwich that you made while hungover? This acidic, salty green sauce can always step in and save the day if you have a few handfuls of green herbs and a blender. This take—made with parsley, cilantro, capers, and lemon juice—is a particularly cooling complement to oily tinned sardines, especially when they’ve been lightly panfried so they’re warmed through and their skin is slightly crackly.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Tin to Table' by Anna Hezel. Buy the full book on Amazon.

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    8 minutes

  • Yield

    Serves 2

Ingredients

1 large handful fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 medium handful fresh cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp. capers
1 garlic clove
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt
1 (3- to 4-oz.) can of sardines in olive oil (such as Matiz, Fishwife, Bela, or Nuri), undrained

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a blender (or in a jar with an immersion blender), combine the parsley, cilantro, capers, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Pulse for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the sauce has the consistency of pesto. You can taste for seasoning at this point, but I usually hold back with the salt because the capers, and the sardines you will be eating with the sauce, pack a salty punch. Pour the salsa verde into a shallow bowl or a rimmed plate.

    Step 2

    Heat a small skillet over medium heat and pour the oil from the sardines into it. When the oil is hot, about 1 minute, gently place each sardine into the skillet. (I do this by hand in order to keep them intact.) Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, flipping the sardines over gently, until slightly browned. With a spatula or slotted spoon, carefully transfer the sardines to the prepared bed of salsa verde. Eat while warm.

Tin To Table-COVER.jpg
Reprinted from Tin to Table by Anna Hezel, with permission by Chronicle Books, 2023. Photographs © Chelsie Craig. Illustrations © Alex Citrin. Buy the full book from Amazon or Chronicle Books.
TagsCookbooksSardineFishSeafoodParsleyHerbs & SpicesCilantroStarterSnackLunchDinnerGluten FreeDairy Free

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