Twice Cooked Sardines and Green Grape Gremolata

Ingredients

• 6
  
  fresh sardines
  
• 1/4
  
  cup chopped parsley
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons champagne vinegar
  
• 6
  
  large cloves of garlic
  
• 1
  
  lemon
  
• 3
  
  tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1
  
  tablespoon sesame oil
  
• 5
  
  seconds of grating fresh nutmeg
  
• 
  
  dashes black pepper
  
• 1
  
  handful of green grapes, chopped
  

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine parsley, olive oil, juice from half of the lemon, chopped garlic, and champagne vinegar.
3. Coarsely chop the ingredients in a food processor or with an immersion blender.
4. To prepare the sardines, make sure they have been scaled and cleaned (i.e. removal of guts and back bone if possible) and give the little guys a good rinse before cooking. Leave head and tail on.
5. Grate nutmeg for five seconds over both sides of the fish and pepper lightly.
6. Heat sesame oil in non-stick pan over medium flame. Wait 2-3 minutes for the oil to get hot. To test if it is ready, flick some water into the pan and the oil should hiss.
7. Add the sardines to the pan (it should be large enough for each sardine to touch the bottom). Sauté for 5 minutes. Flip the fish (it should be golden brown and crispy) and sauté the other side for five minutes as well.
8. Line an oven-safe pan with thin slices of lemon and lay your crispy skin sardines on top.
9. Cover the sardines with a coating of the parsley, lemon, vinegar, garlic mixture (the gremolata) and put in the oven for 5 minutes.
10. Before removing from oven, turn broiler on low and move the fish to the top rack, directly below flame. Cook for 2 more minutes, allowing the skin to get the perfect crunch.
11. To serve, plate fish over the remaining gremolata and cover with the chopped grapes. Dig in.