Spanish Recipes

Fried sardines with alioli recipe - a tasty, easy to make recipe.  Alioli is a garlic mayo and goes really well with sardines.

Ingredients
4 tbsp plain flour
5 - 6 fresh sardines, cleaned and scaled with gills removed
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges and flat leaf parsley, to serve

For the alioli:
5 plump cloves garlic, peeled
A good pinch of sea salt
Mild olive oil - about 6 - 8 tbsp
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. First make the alioli. Put the garlic and salt in a pestle and mortar and pound until the garlic becomes a sticky paste. Very gradually add the oil - just a few drops at a time - and continue pounding until the garlic paste becomes emulsified with the oil and thickens like a mayonnaise. Season with a touch of lemon juice and some ground black pepper. Set aside.

2. To prepare the sardines, season the flour with salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Heat a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium flame and add the oil. Toss the sardines one at a time into the seasoned flour until lightly coated and shake off any excess.
Tommi’s tip:

3. Add to the hot oil and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning halfway though the cooking time, until pale golden brown and crisp. Transfer the sardines to a serving plate using tongs or a spatula. Serve with the garlic alioli, lemon wedges for squeezing and hunks of fresh, crusty bread.
Serves 2 as a tapas

This recipe is from the Channel 4 show A Cook's Tour of Spain