Summer roasted sardines

This full-flavoured yet underrated oily fish is ridiculously good with flat breads or alongside a simple green salad.

The last time I made this summery roast, I also made a big pile of flat breads. They were so good, being a little blistered, crisp and soft all at the same time. We piled the cumin-spiked beetroot onto the flat breads and then lifted the tender fillets from the grilled sardines and laid them over the top. We spooned over the cool minted yoghurt and rolled it all up into the most ridiculously good sardine-and-beetroot wraps. It was a top way to eat this full-flavoured yet underrated oily fish – but it’s just as good alongside a good, simply dressed green salad.

GRILLED SARDINES WITH BEETROOT, CUMIN & ROSEMARY

1kg small beetroots of mixed colours, trimmed and scrubbed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 or 4 rosemary sprigs

8-12 fresh sardines, gutted and scaled

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated

2-3 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly crushed

1 small bunch mint, leaves picked and chopped

2-3 tablespoons plain natural yoghurt

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 200°C. Place the beetroot in a large pan and cover with water. Place the pan over a high heat, bring the water to a simmer and cook the beetroots, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, until they yield to the point of a knife.

Drain beetroots and leave them to cool in the colander. When they’re cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and place in a roasting tray. If they’re big, halve or quarter them so that all the pieces are roughly the same size. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, scatter over the rosemary sprigs and season with salt and pepper.

In the pre-heated oven, cook for 20-30 minutes, until golden and blistered in places. Remove from the oven and lay the sardines among the beetroot. Turn off the oven and heat the grill to high.

In a small bowl, combine garlic and crushed cumin seeds with the remaining olive oil. Brush or spoon the garlicky, cumin-infused oil over the fish and season everything well with salt and pepper. Place the roasting tray under the grill and cook everything for 6-8 minutes, or until the sardines are golden and their skins are starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the mint with the natural yoghurt, stirring to combine thoroughly. When the sardines are ready, bring the roasting tray to the table and serve with the minty yoghurt alongside. Serves 3-4

In Australia, wild-caught sardines are available year-round, sold whole or as fillets. Handle sardines carefully after cooking, as their soft flesh falls apart easily.

Guest chef Gill Meller.

Gill Meller is a Dorset-based chef, food writer and teacher at the River Cottage Cookery School. Gather by Gill Meller (Hardie Grant Books, $49.99).