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Sardine Spread
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Sardine Spread

I serve this with pita bread cut into triangles, brushed with olive oil, and toasted. But toasted rounds of baguette, or any cracker or flatbread would be perfect. One with rye or whole grain flour is especially recommended. You can omit the chives and add some parsley or chervil. Scallions are rare in France, but finely-chopped, I think they’d be terrific in place of the shallots. Although this is a great spread along with an apéritif, I like it for lunch, with a salad.

Course: Condiments, Others

Ingredients

  • 8 whole sardines cleaned and filleted (about 12 ounces, 350g
  • salt freshly ground
  • black pepper freshly ground
  • 2 shallots peeled and minced
  • 1/2 chives minced, bunch
  • big pinch chili powder
  • 2 ounces (70g) butter at room temperature, salted or unsalted
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • lemon juice freshly squeezed

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
  2. Arrange the sardines in the single layer in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until just cooked, about eight minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
  4. Pulse the sardines in a food processor, or mash them with a fork, along with the shallots, chives, chile powder, butter, and olive oil, until relatively smooth, but still a bit chunky.
  5. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and taste, adjusting the seasonings to your liking.
  6. Scrape the mixture into a small bowl and chill for at least eight hours, or overnight.
  7. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

  • Storage: Pâté can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days, or frozen for up to one month.
  • Notes: In Paris, it’s fairly easy to find sardines cleaned and ready-to-go at the fishmonger. If you can’t, it’s not that difficult to do yourself. Here’s a pictorial on how-to fillet sardines. It’s good idea to try to get any tough bones out of the sardines before mashing them in step #4. If any too-crunchy ones remain after you’ve made the pâté, spread the pâté on a cutting board and run over it a bunch of times with a chef’s knife to ensure they’re all in very, very small pieces. As the pâté rests, they’ll become imperceptible and in fact, are quite good for you as they have a lot of bone-building calcium.