Polpette di sarde
Sardine balls
Sardine balls are very tasty. You can make them as you can see in the photo below (flat sardine balls) or smaller as finger foods for your Italian aperitivo. This sardine recipe idea may be a tasty main dish or a starter for a seafood menu according to the Italian taste.
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yeld for 3
- 500g (1.1 pounds) fresh sardines
- 60g (2 1/8 ounces) stale bread
- 50g (1 3/4 ounces) plain dried breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- Some sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Some stems fresh chives
- 50g (1 3/4 ounces) fresh young onion
- 20g (2/3 ounces) pine nuts
- Some drops balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Dry white wine
- Salt
- Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
cooking: 20 minutes
total: 40 minutes - Difficulty:
easy recipe - Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 407 (kCal) 21 % GDA (*) - 1701 (kJ)
Protein: 32.6 (g) 66 % GDA
Total fat: 17.7 (g) 26 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 31.3 (g) 12 % GDA
Sugars: 4.6 (g) 6 % GDA
Sardine ball recipe
Preparation
- - Clean the sardines: remove their head, viscera, bones, included dorsal and caudal fin.
- - Clean, wash and coarsley cut the parsley and chives.
- - Peel the onion and divide into quarters.
- - Puree the sardines in a blender together with the egg, stale bread, aromatic herbs, onion quarters, vinegar and a pinch of salt.
- - Transfer the sardine mixture in a bowl. Add the pine nuts and a couple of tablespoons of breadcrumbs.
- - Mix with your hands. The dough should be neither too soft nor hard.
If necessary, add more breadcrumbs. - - Form meatballs, the size you want, and then press them lightly between your hands and coat in the remaining breadcrumbs.
Cooking
- - Pour the olive oil into a non-stick frying pan.
- - Transfer the sardine balls too.
- - Let them fry on both sides on very low heat.
- - Cover them with dry white wine and continue cooking. half-covered.
Turn over the sardine balls from time to time. - - Cook until the cooking juice is well reduced.
Just before serving
- - Transfer the sardine balls to the serving plate and add the side dish you've chosen.
- - Nothing more is necessary.
Your dish is ready! - - Serve the sardine balls still hot.
Tips and menu planning
- - You can have 12 to 13 medium-size flat sardine balls with these doses. If you prepare smaller sardine balls as appetizers their number is much higher (even 40) and the doses are enough for a higher number of people.
- - The recipe is not suitable to be heated so calculate well the doses.
- - You can also fry these sardine balls but it's more difficult to digest them. Besides the recipe will have more calories and fat.
- - If you prepare this sardine recipe as main dish accompany it with a light side dish. Green salads, tomato or green bean salad, or boiled seasonal vegetables.
- - If you serve them as appetizer for your Italiano aperitivo you can combine them with other typical Italian appetizers such as olive ascolane (stuffed and fried olives, Ascolana style), bruschetta, and skewered fruit & cheese (taste grapes & cheese or cherries & cheese in season).
Healthy eating
- - Have you any problem to make your children eat fish? This recipe may be the solution!
- - Daily menu. Sardine balls is a tasty main dish you can accompany with a variety of light side dishes as we have just suggested. Light side dishes mean above all vegetables to be dressed with little olive oil to be within the recommended calories for dinner (500 - 600 kCal for a person with an energy requirement of 2000 kCal per day to be divided into five daily micro meals). Be careful to the vegetables you choose. Sardines are very different from boiled cod.
If you want to reduce the calories the only variation you can do is to remove the pine nuts. In this way the calories are 367.
- - Another tip. It would be better not to eat bread with this main dish. Bread is already an important ingredient of this recipe.
- - I remember you nutritionists recommend 2 to 3 fish portions a week for a balanced and healthy eating.
- - The sardines are part of the group of oily fish (blue fish) rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly omega 3. In fact, omega-3 decreases the risk of thrombosis, protecting the body from cardiovascular disease, especially when there has already been a heart attack.
In addition, the sardine is a food rich in calcium (350mg per 100g of food) and is recommended to combat the processes of bone decalcification. - - This recipe has 2.5 grams of fiber.
- - Celebration menu. Don't worry in this case. A special occasion happens rarely, doesn't it?
- - If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 kCal per 100 ml.
- - I remember you our original home recipes can be made without salt. There is always a combination of flavors that substitutes salt. Other no salt recipes ...
By Loretta
What's the right wine ?
Our suggestion is Pinot Grigio of Lison Pramaggiore DOC. We like very much the organic Pinot Grigio by Le Carline, an excellent organic company we knew by chance spending our summer holidays in Caorle last year (2010). If you visit the Venetian land do not miss the opportunity to visit the farm Le Carline. The owners are very friendly and you'll be able to taste the wines they produce. Not to be missed!
The author Loretta Sebastiani lives in Italy (IT)
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