Here is the recipe for sardine meatballs, a classic recipe that allows you to enjoy sardines in a different way, a fish with a limited cost and a strong flavor. The preparation is not very quick but it’s worth it! You can use it as an appetizer or a main course, and you can use the sauce where you cooked the meatballs also to season spaghetti or linguine… someone even leaves a couple of meatballs on the plate!
If you like meatballs, don’t forget to read the recipe:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 1,080.74 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 96.64 (g) of which sugars 10.45 (g)
- Proteins 102.36 (g)
- Fat 33.50 (g) of which saturated 10.19 (g)of which unsaturated 18.77 (g)
- Fibers 7.73 (g)
- Sodium 2,701.92 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 4 people
- 1.76 lbs sardines
- 0.5 cup breadcrumbs
- 7 oz stale bread
- 0.5 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 onion
- 10.5 oz tomato sauce
- 1 bunch wild fennel
- as needed seed oil (for frying)
- as needed salt
- as needed pepper
Tools
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pan 8-9 inches
Procedure
The secret to good sardine meatballs lies in the fresh ingredients, get the freshest ones so you’ll have a delicious dish
First you need to clean the sardines; if they are fresh you can do it with your bare hands, but I prefer to use gloves and a knife to avoid the unpleasant smell of fish.
You need to clean them completely by removing the head, the central bone, the fins, leaving only the fillet until you get about 1.1 lbs cleaned.
Rinse the fillets well under running water and chop them into very thin pieces, like a true tartare.
I advise against using a mixer or chopper because you would get a grayish paste, much less appealing.
Take some old bread and soak it in water, crumble it into small pieces, add the salt, pepper, sardines, and cheese, and knead into 1 to 1.5-inch diameter meatballs.
When you have formed the meatballs, it’s time to bread them with breadcrumbs.
I don’t use eggs to bind the mixture because by working with fresh sardines, the bread and ingredients blend well. If the mixture is too dry and crumbles, you can add a medium egg to bind.
Fry the sardine meatballs in a pan to get them crispy and golden; once fried, finish cooking in the tomato sauce: sauté some onion with a little oil and pour in the sauce.
When the sauce starts to boil, lower the flame to medium, add the meatballs and wild fennel, and let them absorb the flavors.
Once the meatballs are fried, let them absorb the flavors over low heat; when the sauce has thickened, it’s time to turn off the heat and serve with a nice slice of toasted rustic bread.
Your sardine meatballs are ready!
Plating tips:
Sardine meatballs in sauce are a traditional dish and as such I recommend presenting them this way: arrange the meatballs on individual plates on a base of tomato sauce and complete the plate with another generous spoonful of sauce.
Which wine to pair with sardine meatballs:
I recommend pairing sardine meatballs in sauce with a white wine that can balance the acidity of the tomato and enhance the flavor of the bluefish, such as serving this recipe with an Etna Doc Bianco.
