Sarde in Saor

Ingredients

• 600 g fresh sardines, cleaned and butterflied
• 1 kg white onions, very thinly sliced
• 60 g raisins or sultanas
• 50 g pine nuts
• 150 ml white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 100 g plain flour
• 400 ml sunflower oil for frying
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Rinse the butterflied sardines under cold water and pat them completely dry.
• Soak the raisins in warm water for 20 minutes, then squeeze them dry.
• Peel the onions and slice them as thinly as you can manage.
• Spread the flour on a plate and season it with salt.

Steps

1. Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over low heat and add the sliced onions with the bay leaf.
2. Cook the onions gently for 30 minutes, stirring often, until they collapse to a pale golden tangle without browning.
3. Stir the sugar into the onions and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour in the vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes until the sharpest edge has cooked off.
5. Take the onions off the heat and set them aside.
6. Heat the sunflower oil in a deep frying pan until a pinch of flour sizzles on contact.
7. Dust the sardines in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
8. Fry the sardines in batches for 2 minutes a side, until crisp and light brown.
9. Lift them onto kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt.
10. Spread a thin layer of onions across the base of a deep dish.
11. Lay half the sardines on the onions in a single overlapping layer.
12. Scatter over half the raisins and half the pine nuts.
13. Cover with half the remaining onions, then add the rest of the sardines, raisins and pine nuts.
14. Finish with the last of the onions and press down so the sardines are fully covered.
15. Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
16. Bring the dish back to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving with bread or grilled polenta.