I was going through my Grandmothers recipes and came across this one and thought that sounds amazing. It took a few tries to figure out the recipe, well all it really was, was a list of ingredients and and some notes about the prep, but I got it worked out - Enjoy
Braised Sardines
Ingredients
24 Fresh Sardines, with the heads and bones removed, I had the Fishmonger do this for me.
1 1/2 cups of dry white wine
1 cup of olive oil
1 cup pitted green olives, chopped
6 red peppers, cut into strips
3 medium, onions, chopped
8 gloves of garlic, minced
Hand-full of fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
Zest of 2 lemons
Flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Sliced, Toasted, Bread
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line a two baking skeet with parchment paper.
In a large deep skillet, over low heat, add 1/3 cup of olive, onions, bay leaves, garlic and a pinch of salt and simmer, stir every so often until onions are soft, about 15 minutes. Now add peppers to skillet, stirring occasionally, and simmer for an additional 45 minutes or until pepper are nice an tender. If peppers start to stick to the skillet during this slow process, reduce heat to its lowest setting and add a few tablespoons of water a bit at a time until peppers are tender.
Once peppers are tender, raise heat and add the wine, parsley, olives and lemon zest and simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat. The wine should have reduced by 1 third.
Pour contents of skillet onto one of the baking sheet, spread to cover sheet, set aside.
Dust sardines with flour, salt and pepper. place on the other parchment lined baking sheet.
In a smaller deep skillet, place the balance of the olive oil over medium to high heat. In batches, fry the sardines for 30 seconds on each side, remove and place, skin side up on pepper mixture, repeat until done.
Place baking sheet with Sardines in oven for about 5 minutes or until sardines are cooked through.
To plate, place toast on plate, add some of the roasted red peppers, onions and garlic to toast, then place Sardines on top. Serve with Lemons wedges. Now like to drain off the liquids from the baking sheet, add a bit of vinegar and olive oil, whisk and serve along side the dish as an optional dressing.
Enjoy Cooking