Sicilian stuffed sardines recipe (sarde al beccafico)
This recipe for Sicilian stuffed sardines was originally published in Rosa’s first cookbook, My Cousin Rosa: Rosa Mitchell’s Sicilian Kitchen.
Sarde are sardines in Italian and beccafico literally translated means ‘fig pecker’ – the term given to a type of garden warbler. These little warblers were considered a delicacy and eaten by nobles. For those who couldn’t afford the warblers, sarde al beccafico was created as a poor man’s version of this dish. The sardines are rolled with the sardine tails pointing up to mimic the tail of the beccafico.
These can be served as a main course with a salad or as a pre-dinner snack/starter.
Follow the method below, or alternatively, roll the sardines individually (uncooked) and put on a skewer with a slice of orange or lemon in between and bake in an oven at 180C for about 15 minutes.
Rosa likes to buy the sardines and clean them herself, but you can buy them already filleted from your fishmonger.
Sarde al beccafico
Serves 4
24 fresh sardines
160g (5 ½ oz/2 cups) fresh white breadcrumbs
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1 handful of chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
50 g (1 ¾ oz/ ½ cup) grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
125 ml (4 fl oz/ ½ cup) olive oil
100 g (3 ½ oz/ ⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
Fine sea salt and pepper
Rinse the sardines under running water to remove any scales.
Take one sardine and use your thumb to snap the neck bone at the back of the head, then pull out the intestines.
With your thumb inside the fish, run it down along the backbone as if using a knife and open up the sardine like a book.
When you get to the tail, snap it off with your fingers or snip with scissors, then carefully lift and pull away the spine.
Repeat until all the sardines are butterflied.
In a medium-sized bowl add the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, parmesan, egg, salt and pepper, and mix it together. If the mixture feels too dry, add a little bit of water to moisten it.
Place a butterflied sardine, skin side down in the palm of your hand. Take about a tablespoon of the mixture and place it in the middle of the sardine and flatten the mixture down the centre, making sure to leave some space around the edges. Place another sardine on top, skin side up and press together gently like a sandwich and set it aside. Repeat until all the sardines are stuffed with the mixture and sandwiched in pairs.
In a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat, heat half the oil. Meanwhile, put the flour in a flat bowl, season with salt and pepper and lightly flour the sardines.
Fry the sardines in batches for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown (don’t fry them too quickly otherwise the centres won’t cook), then turn them over and cook the other side until golden.
Season with salt and move to a plate as they’re cooked, and top up the oil in the pan as needed.
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