BBQd SARDINES

 

Everyone knows that eating oily fish makes you clever… which is probably how Portugal, where the sardine is a national icon, won the Eurovision Song Contest with a bizarre sentimental love song in 2017, how it was victorious at the Euro Football championships in 2016 and the first UEFA Nations League against far superior teams. Be mesmerized by the circumnavigatory heroics of Magellan, Cabral, Vasco da Gama and Diogo Cão, and that’s before you get started on the genius of Pessoa, Saramago and the six-fingered baker, Brites de Almeida. Buy a single-use charcoal BBQ tray (available from all good supermarkets and DIY stores) and increase your IQ just before finals with this sardine spectacular.

Cost per student: £3.50 (€4)

BBQ units cost around £2.50 (€ 2.80)

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Preparation time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 8 minutes

 

Ingredients (serves 4)

12 sardines

6 tablespoons of oil

Juice and grated peel of ½ lemon

The other ½ lemon, cut into wedges to serve

2 teaspoons of paprika

Salt and Pepper

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Equipment

Mixing bowl

Single-use BBQ tray

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1. Marinade the sardines for an hour before you leave the house by placing them in a shallow dish and covering them with the oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper. Keep them in the tray or put them in a plastic bag for travelling.

 

2. Light the barbecue on a flat surface and leave to heat as described on its packaging.

 

3. Place sardines on BBQ grill and cook for 4 minutes.

 

4. Turn over sardines and cook on their other side for 4 minutes. Squirt over juice from remaining lemon wedges and serve with a green salad or tzatziki.