Sardines stuffed with cream cheese & herbs
Stock up on your Omega-3 with sardines. Sardines are cheap and they are worth their weight in gold. If there are people that don’t really like sardines, you can stuff them with cream cheese and herbs. They taste differently and I am sure they will be a hit.
Ingredients
500 gr sardines 150 gr cream cheese (Philadelphialight) Finely chopped chives Finely chopped dill Finely chopped parsley Salt, pepper Oregano Olive oil Lemon juiceDirections
First you have to clean the sardines, which many of you absolutely hate. Perhaps you can get your fishmonger to do it for you.
In case you want to do it yourself, here is how: Put the fish in a bowl with water, and lightly scrape off the scales. You can use a knife or a special scraper. Take care not to scratch the skin. The sardines have very soft scales that come off very easily. Then you have to cut off the head with the gills and everything. Cut open the belly and remove the intestines. Rinse the fish.
Use a very sharp knife for the next step. Insert the knife in the fish from the cut side. You must feel that it touches the backbone. Run your knife along the bone to the tail. Be careful not to separate the two fillets completely. They must be joined at the back. Open the fillet and insert your knife below the bone and slide it towards the tail, so that you can remove the bone. Gently scrape off the soft bones and your sardine is ready to be stuffed. It sounds complicated but it is very easy and it doesn’t take long once you get the hang of it.
Rinse each fish as you finish filleting it and place it in a colander to drain. Sprinkle some salt over the fish and let them drain while you prepare the stuffing.
In a bowl place the cheese and the chives, dill and parsley. Mix well with a fork. Lay the sardines in a baking pan, the one next to the other. With a teaspoon, put some stuffing between the two fillets of fish. Press the two fillets lightly together. When you have stuffed all the fish, sprinkle a little salt over them and some oregano if you wish, and drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice.
Bake them in a preheated oven at 180oC for about 20 minutes. You can serve them with a nice green or Greek salad and some fries.
If you wish, you could leave some sardines whole after having removed the head and the intestines. Place them in the pan, drizzle some oil and lemon juice over them and sprinkle some salt and oregano. They are very tasty this way as well.
Another way to cook the sardines is to barbecue them. These little fish packed with vitamins and minerals are a real powerhouse, and should be added to your menu.
This delicious recipe is the courtesy of Cooking In Plain Greek!