Fresh sardines are delicious – rich, dense and oily, and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. It’s always a good idea to eat your vitamins rather than rely on a supplement, and the levels of omega-3’s DHA and EPA are much better in fish than in algae sources.
Method
- Boil the water (add salt) for the pasta and preheat your grill to high and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Peel & finely chop the shallots and garlic and the chilli (remove seeds if you don’t like too much heat). Finely chop the rosemary leaves.
- Add olive oil to a large pan and add finely sliced shallots/onion, garlic, chilli and rosemary, season with salt and pepper. Fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the roughly diced tomatoes and their juices into the frying pan. Scatter in the chopped olives. Swirl in 3 tbsp cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Cook the spaghetti to the pan of boiling water. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a mugful of the starchy cooking water.
- While the pasta cooks, lay the sardine fillets on the lined baking tray, skin side up. Drizzle with 1 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Slide the fish under the hot grill for 3 mins.
- Tip the drained spaghetti into the pan with the tomato sauce. Scatter in half the rocket leaves. Squeeze in the juice from half the lemon. Pour in 2 tbsp of the reserved pasta cooking water. Stir everything together, till the sauce has thickened.
- Plate up and add the grilled sardines on top of the pasta, and scatter the remaining rocket leaves and a drizzle of oil.