Grilled sardines on toast with bacon, basil and tomato

Name: Grilled sardines on toast with bacon, basil and tomato
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 120 g tin sardines in tomato sauce; 4 slices of thick country bread (ciabatta or sourdough); 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved; 4 tbsp sherry vinegar; 1½ lemons, in halves ready for squeezing; a bunch of basil, leaves picked, stalks reserved; 8 butterflied sardine fillets (filleted and opened out flat); 120 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle; 4 rashers of streaky bacon; vegetable oil, for frying; sea salt and black pepper; 2 tbsp finely diced red onion; 400 g cherry tomatoes, about 35-40, halved

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Gourmet Food for a Fiver

By Jason Atherton

Published 2010

About

AS A CHILD I ATE MORE TINNED SARDINES ON TOAST THAN I CARE TO REMEMBER. THIS SOPHISTICATED VERSION - FEATURING FRESH SARDINES, TOMATOES AND BASIL - IS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT.

Ingredients

8 butterflied sardine fillets (filleted and opened out flat)
a bunch of basil, leaves picked, stalks reserved
400

Sandwich

Method

Check the sardine fillets for bones, cover and refrigerate. Set aside some of the basil leaves for garnish and put the rest into a bowl with half of the cherry tomatoes.
Add the onion, sherry vinegar, olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon to the tomatoes. Toss gently and season with salt. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.