The Tinned Fish 25 · No. 6 of 25

  1. Extra Spiced Sardines in Olive Oil from Nuri (Pinhais) No.6Photo: FishNook

    Sardines and sprats · Portugal

    Extra Spiced Sardines in Olive Oil

    From Nuri (Pinhais) · Matosinhos, Portugal

    In spiced olive oil●●Spicy$8.99 a tin

    Pinhais, by the fish market in Matosinhos, still packs by hand and cans sardines the day they come off the boat, then ages the tins for months before they ship. The extra spiced tin gets three chilies instead of one, with clove, carrot, pickle and laurel.

    The classic Portuguese tin, with real heat. Let it sit in the cupboard a year and it only gets better.

    Eat it withBread and salted butterSpaghettiVinho verde
    Order from FishNook ↗

    Nuri (Pinhais) doesn't sell this tin direct here, so the button goes to FishNook, a shop that carries it.

    Chef's quick recipe

    Spicy sardine spaghetti with crunchy breadcrumbs

    25 min · 2 servings · The spiced oil flavors everything; breadcrumbs toasted in it stand in for cheese, the way Sicily does it.

    Save to my recipes

    You need

    • 1 tin Nuri extra spiced sardines (4.4 oz / 125 g)
    • 6 oz (170 g) spaghetti
    • Salt
    • ⅓ cup (25 g) coarse breadcrumbs
    • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
    • 1 tbsp tomato paste
    • 1 tbsp golden raisins (optional)
    • Zest of ½ lemon
    • ¼ cup chopped parsley

    How to make it

    1. Put the pasta water on. Drain the tin's oil into a wide pan and keep the sardines aside.
    2. Toast the breadcrumbs in 1 tbsp of that oil over medium heat, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until deep golden. Tip them into a bowl and season with a pinch of salt.
    3. Cook the spaghetti in salted water until al dente; save 1 cup of the water.
    4. In the same pan, warm the rest of the oil over medium-low with the garlic for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and raisins and cook 1 minute, until the paste darkens.
    5. Add the sardines and break them up with a spoon. Add the pasta and ½ cup of water and toss for a minute until saucy.
    6. Off the heat, stir in the lemon zest and parsley. Serve with the breadcrumbs on top.

    Chef's own recipe, in our words, built around the tin. It isn't Nuri (Pinhais)'s.

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How to buy a good tin. Look for the fish named on the front (sardines, not "fish"), olive oil rather than "vegetable oil", and a cannery's name and town on the back.

Keep it. Most tins last years in a cool cupboard, and sardines in oil get better with a year or two. Anchovies are the exception: keep them in the fridge.

Serve it. Warm oily fish a little (stand the closed tin in hot tap water for 5 minutes). Chill shellfish in escabeche for 10 minutes. Always keep the oil: it's the sauce.

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