Serves 4
Ingredients
8 whole sardines
16 wild garlic leaves
8 rashers smoked streaky bacon
For the persillade
2 large shallots
Bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
4 wild garlic leaves
1 clove garlic
2 lemons
4 anchovy fillets
sea salt
50g extra virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon wedges
Method
Remove all the scales from the sardines, make an incision in the belly, and then clean out the inside and wash under cold water, pat dry on kitchen paper.
Wash all of the wild garlic leaves and lay 16 out flat separately. Wrap each sardine in 4 leaves of garlic and two rashers of bacon, so it covers the whole fish. Lay all the sardines on a greased baking tray and brush the top of the sardines with a little oil.
To make the persillade, peel and finely chop the shallot, finely chop the parsley and the wild garlic leaves. Crush the clove of garlic with the anchovy and a little sea salt in a pestle and mortar. Mix all the ingredients together and finish with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.
Grill the sardines for 4 – 5 minutes on each side, and finish with a squeeze of lemon. They are also great cooked on the BBQ.
Serve with a spoon of the persillade and some fresh lemon wedges.