Fried sardines with warm lentil salad, fennel and lemon salsa verde

Give this vibrant dish a fling.

Fried sardines with warm lentil salad, fennel and lemon salsa verde

This recipe has come a very long way with me: I’ve been making it for 20 years, since my early days working in London. I don’t play around with it much, because it really works just as it is. Sometimes I make it with anchovies but here I’m doing it without. The first time I saw salsa verde being made this way I was a bit baffled because in most parts of Spain it is actually a very light white sauce. This zesty green version pairs perfectly with the fried sardines and earthy lentils.

FRIED SARDINES WITH WARM LENTIL SALAD, FENNEL & LEMON SALSA VERDE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 banana or French shallot, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

200g (1¼ cups) puy lentils1 bay leaf

500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock

8 sardines, butterflied

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

125ml (½ cup) white wine

8 black peppercorns

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

Good pinch of caster sugar

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 large fennel bulb, very finely sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde

30g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

10g fennel fronds, finely chopped

1 tablespoon baby capers

½ green chilli, finely chopped (optional)

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

90ml (1/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil

Heat half the oil in a saucepan over low heat and gently fry the shallot and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the lentils, bay leaf and stock, and season well. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until the lentils are just tender. Drain well and tip on to a serving platter.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, mix together the vinegar, white wine, peppercorns, coriander seeds and sugar. Reduce by half, then toss with the red onion in a small bowl. In another small bowl, mix together all the salsa ingredients and season well.

Heat the rest of the oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat and fry the sardine fillets, skin-side down, for 2 minutes until crisp and golden. Flip over and fry for another minute until just cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Toss the finely shredded fennel with the lentils. Top with the sardines and scatter over the pickled red onion, then drizzle with the salsa verde. Serves 4

The Spanish Home Kitchen by Jose Pizarro, Hardie Grant Books.

Edited extract from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro (Hardie Grant, $55). Photography: Emma Lee.