Crumbed Butterflied Sardines - Sarde Impanate

The preparation of the sardines require some stamina, so get yourself a comfortable pair of shoes, pull your hair up, and put on some soothing music. Don't forget the tall cool drink, with a straw!!!! 

You will need:

1 kilo of fresh sardines
3-5 eggs
2-3 tablespoons of milk
2-3 cups of plain flour

200gms of bread crumbs
60 gms of parmiggiano cheese
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
3-4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

peanut or sunflower oil  for frying

The first few steps require a little practice. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut the head, and pull away the innards of each sardine. Then, scale each sardine under running water. I also like to gently glide, a not-so-sharp knife, from the tail end  to the headless end of the sardine, so that all of the scales are removed.

Now, we have to remove the spine and bones of the fish, in order to butterfly the sardines.
Where the head once was, place your thumb on one side of the backbone. Run your thumb, along the backbone, towards the tail. The sardine should now be open, revealing, a clean fillet on one side and a fillet with the backbone attached on the other side.
Break off the backbone, near the tail, and then pull it away from the flesh, towards where the head once was. I also like to remove the fin, so, turn the sardine around and pull the fin away.

Finally, remove the remaining tail bone and tail, hence, we have a lovely mountain of boneless butterflied sardines.
The bread crumb mix: in a very large bowl place the breadcrumbs, the grated parmiggiano cheese, the chopped parsley, the crushed garlic, and the salt and pepper. Using your fingers tips, mix really well, all the ingredients.

 Right, now the production line: I like to have the bowls as followed: firstly, a bowl with the plain flour, then the slightly beaten eggs with tablespoon or 2 of milk, and then the bread crumb mix.

Place the butterflied sardines into the flour, dust off excess flour, then dunk into the beaten eggs and then cover with the breadcrumbs, patting slightly.

Once all the sardines have been crumbed, I heat a shallow fry pan with some peanut or sunflower oil, make sure you test the heat before starting to fry the sardines.
Once the oil is hot enough, fry the sradines, I like to fry them in batches or 3 or 4. When they are golden brown, place on some absorbing paper. I like to then sprinkle some flaked sea slat on the little darlings. 

And there you have it!!!!