A Tasty Recipe with a Tin of Sardines.

Canned sardines are revered in countries like Spain and Portugal because of the quality of the fish, olive oil, and care placed into packing the tins. While sardines over crusty bread is a classic, here is another option of what you can do with this canned sardine recipe:

A Spanish Dish with a Can of Sardines and Huge Peppers

For ideas of what you can do with a can of sardines, the best inspiration is from the country that makes the best canned sardines – Spain!

Here is a recipe for stuffing sardines in piquillo peppers. The result is a depth of flavors and contrast of textures. This is a great side dish to be eaten with crusty bread or even a main dish that you can serve over a bed of salad greens.
 

Read more about High-Quality Canned Food:

Canned Food History: Unpacking the History of Canned Sardines
Canned Food That’s Actually Healthy
 

Canned Sardine Recipe: Sardines Stuffed in Piquillo Peppers

Serves 2-4 persons
Ingredients:

• 1 can of Spanish or Portuguese sardines in olive oil
• 1 large piquillo peppers, whole canned or fresh
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1.5 cup bread crumbs, setting aside that half cup in a small bowl
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

 
Kitchen Tools:

• medium and small mixing bowls
• spoon
• food processor
• glass baking dish

 
1. First, preheat the oven to 425 F, or 220 C. Then, if you do not have bread crumbs, you can always use a food processor to make it yourself using stale bread or bread that you have in the freezer. Process until the chunks are small but not fine.
 
2. Open the can of sardines. Then in a medium mixing bowl, pour all the contents, sardines and oil, into the bowl. Add the minced onions, 1 cup bread crumbs, 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, about 2 pinches of kosher salt, and a pinch of ground black pepper.

3. Mix the ingredients together with a spoon until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the sardines become a chunky mash. Taste to see if you need to add more sherry vinegar for brightness or more salt to flavor.
 
4. If you are using fresh piquillo peppers, cut them open lengthwise on one side and take out the seeds. If you are using canned whole piquillo peppers, simply cut them open lengthwise on one side.

5. Using the spoon, stuff the sardine mix carefully and neatly into the peppers. Then top the stuffed peppers with the remaining half cup of bread crumbs. Drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the peppers and bread crumbs. Finally, sprinkle the bread crumbs with a final pinch of salt.
 
6. If you have a countertop oven, place the pan in the middle rack. If you have a larger, traditional oven, place it on the top rack to roast.

7. If you used fresh peppers, roast the stuffed peppers for about 20-25 minutes, or using the peppers are darkly roasted and the bread crumbs are dark brown like in the photo above.

If you used canned peppers, roasted the stuffed peppers for about 15 minutes until the bread crumbs are dark brown.

8. Serve in the glass pan or plate it over a bed of salad greens.
 
 
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