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Sicilian Stuffed Sardines

Ready in 25 mins

Recipe by Graham 

Sicilian Stuffed Sardines is, as you might imagine, a dish of butterflied sardines stuffed with a delight of lovely ingredients. The plump stuffed fish with their tails sticking out are said to resemble the beccafico, a little bird found in Italy that loves to eat figs. Thus, the Italian name for this dish is sarde alla beccafico. As always, there are a number of variations on this dish. Some cooks add diced caciocavallo cheese to the stuffing and the stuffed sardines are dipped in flour and fried instead of baked. Others soak the currants or raisins in Marsala wine or add saffron to the filling. Whatever variation you like, it's easy to make and quite delicious.

Preparation Time

15 Minutes

Cooking Time

10 Minutes

Ingredients for Sicilian Stuffed Sardines

If you are not familiar with any ingredients, please check our International Cooking Terms page.

Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements

To serve 6:

1 lemon
1 orange
1 tablespoon caster sugar (superfine sugar)
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 anchovy fillets
4 slices white bread
2 teaspoons drained capers
1½ oz pine nuts
1½ oz sultanas
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves
24 sardines
12 bay leaves

How to Cook Sicilian Stuffed Sardines

  1. Scale the sardines by running a knife blade down each side "against" the normal lie of the scales. Remove the head and innards of each sardine. Cut the crusts from the bread and use a blender to break it into fine breadcrumbs. Zest the lemon and squeeze the juice from both the lemon and orange. Whisk the lemon and orange juices, sugar, vinegar and ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl then set aside.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the anchovy fillets and cook for 1 minute, stirring, or until melted. Add 2½oz (70g) breadcrumbs and cook for a further 4 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, capers, pine nuts, sultanas and mint and stir to combine. Season with pepper and set aside.
  3. Scatter 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs over the base of a lined oven tray. Place 12 of the filleted sardines, skin-side down, in a baking dish and spread 2 teaspoons of anchovy filling over each. Top with the remaining 12 sardines, skin-side up, and place a bay leaf between each sardine pair. Drizzle with the lemon and orange mixture and scatter over the remaining 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (Mk 6 - 400ºF - 200ºC) for 10 minutes or until the sardines are just cooked. Eat while hot with a few new potatoes and fried tomato.
GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
Here's a simple method for cleaning sardines that will simplify your life.