The Fishmonger Is Your Friend: Home-Cured Sardines with Kale Pesto

One of Michel’s favorite Chicago restaurants is Café Spiaggia, the “more casual sibling of renowned Spiaggia.”  Translation: You get delicious, indulgent food without the fuss and expense of dining in Spiaggia itself.  On two of our visits, Michel has ordered an appetizer of house cured sardines served with caper almond pesto on raisin fennel crostini.  The name alone is quite a mouthful.  He liked the dish so much that he’s been on the hunt for fresh sardines ever since so that he could replicate the curing technique at home—which brings us back to the friendly fishmongers at Whole Foods.  If you’ve glanced at the monkfish post from a few weeks ago, you know that Michel can’t walk past the fish counter without asking questions about the offerings on display. 

Every time we go to Whole Foods he looks for fresh sardines.  This has been going on for months, mind you.  Yesterday, he spotted the shiny little guys on ice and immediately asked the fishmonger for one pound.  Easy, right?  Not quite, because Michel also asked the fishmonger to fillet them.  It took about twenty minutes and the poor guy was very proud of his accomplishment.  As he handed the package over the counter to Michel, he said, “I hope whoever eats these really enjoys them because a LOT of labor went into this.”   Now you know why it’s important to be nice to fishmongers.  They will literally do the dirty work for you. 

If you are really into cleaning fish or if you have unfulfilled do-it-yourself aspirations à la Martha Stewart, you can prepare the fillets yourself.  Here are Michel’s instructions: “With a sharp paring knife, cut the heads off, slit the bellies open, and remove the guts. Starting at the tail, cut along the center bone and fillet the sardine.  You’ll be left with the center bone and the tail which can be discarded.  After the first one, you get the hang of it.” 

Michel adapted the Café Spiaggia dish to eliminate the bread.  He proudly served his very own home-cured sardines over kale pesto. (You will need to pat them dry with a paper towel before serving.) The curing process is rather simple and, once again via the magic of chemistry, the acid in the brine dilutes any remaining bones.  Michel is quite delighted with his recipe. It’s a protein party, delivering all kinds of nutritional benefits including the very important Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). 

Home-Cured Sardines

• One pound filleted fresh sardines (makes four appetizer portions)
• Two lemons
• One heaping teaspoon kosher salt
• One teaspoon agave nectar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• One plastic food storage container—at least 32 ounce size (maybe the one you need to throw away soon because it’s stained and the lid never fits right anyway)

Curing procedure:

• In the plastic container, combine juice of two lemons, salt, agave, and olive oil.  Mix well. 
• Layer the sardine fillets skin side up in the brine mixture. 
• Cover and make sure the lid is tightly closed, “otherwise your whole refrigerator is going to smell.”
• Let sardines cure overnight. 

Your home-cured sardines can be served on crostini if you like, or over kale pesto.  You can find Michel's kale pesto recipe in a previous post about kale.  Use your imagination.   Enjoy!