Jack Monroe's oven roasted sardines with tomatoes on sourdough recipe

Behold the humble sardine, one of the staples in my store cupboard for a quick lunch or light snack. I love sourdough for this recipe, although a nice brown or wholemeal bread will work nicely.

(Serves 2) 79p a portion
3 sardines or pilchards, 60p
400g tinned tomatoes, 35p
1 onion, cut into rings, 10p
Salt and pepper, 1p
Fat clove of garlic, 3p
3 slices sourdough bread, to serve, 34p
2 tbsp oil – use the oil from the tin of sardines, drained and reserved
Fistful of parsley, 13p

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Using a sharp knife, cut the sardine in half along the belly and back, and remove the large bone from the middle with the point of your knife (some tinned varieties will have no bones).

Drain the tomatoes, mix with the onion and season with salt and pepper.

Halve your garlic clove and rub it on each slice of sourdough bread, then mince and add it to the onion and tomato mix.

Add the oil, and pour the sauce into a small roasting tin.

Place the sardines on top, roast for 15 minutes, and toast the sourdough.

Remove the sardines from the oven, toss with the parsley and serve on the sourdough toasts.

Jack's tip

This recipe works really well with black olives sliced and added to the tomatoes and onions.