Sardines on Buttered Brown Bread
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 4small slices dark, dense European-style rye bread
- ½cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1(4.5-ounce) tin oil-packed sardines
- Salt and black pepper
- 1tablespoon chopped dill
- 2tablespoons thinly sliced scallions or chives
- Arugula, for serving
- Cornichons or other pickles, for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Lightly toast the bread, then cool to room temperature. Spread each toast generously with butter.
- Step 2
Distribute the sardines among the toasts. (Cut large sardines in half lengthwise; leave small sardines whole.)
- Step 3
Sprinkle each toast lightly with salt and grind pepper directly over the sandwiches. Garnish with chopped dill and slivered scallions.
- Step 4
Serve sandwiches open-faced, with arugula, cornichons and a lemon wedge.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
The headnote says "anchovy." What happened?
This has been a breakfast favorite of mine for years (much to the horror of my staff). I add pickled onions to the top
Try to cut radishes over them in stead of scallions - or combine
Hmm, so good. I add butter to hot boiled eggs, mash them up with a grind of pepper and sea salt. That’s the base, then those gorgeous sardines. Dill and arugula are fine partners.
Long a family favorite, though we prefer cream cheese in place of butter. Either way, tasty!
Hi, David, Thank you for flagging the inconsistency. It should have read sardines, and that's fixed now.
James Beard has essentially the same approach. He does not toast the bread, but butters it, lays a slice of mild onion, Vadalia or Walla Walla Sweet, on top arranges the sardines & squeezes lemon juice on them. Very good with beer & for a particularly merry time take a shot or two of Akvavit or better Zubrovka.
Spent last summer on the coast of Morocco - sardine city! Love these fresh, grilled, canned……a real flavor bomb.
Just toast the bread and prepare the greens. Very easy to compose on the spot. Hardest part is figuring out whether to bring sardines or anchovies—suggest bring both!
utterly delicious on homemade wholemeal toast. it is vital to let it cool before you butter it! i mashed sardines with lemon and black pepper, then topped them (in the absence of pickles) with the thinnest slices of tomato and some chopped rocket, and a whisper of kewpie mayo. so very good.
Try it with Riga Sprats.
In Berkeley, the late, lamented César, sibling of its next door neighbor and landlord, Chez Panisse, served a variation of this, matrimonios, that is perhaps my favorite restaurant dish ever. It is exactly right on so many counts: vibrant, unctuous, freshly maritime, savory and sweet, an entirely fulfilling appetizer/tapas. Sadly, the landlord evicted the tenant a while ago. Overnight, one of Berkeley's most reliable and satisfying dining experiences went dark. Thanks, Chez Panisse.
I use olive oil instead of butter, but either way, the sardines are the star. Love them!!
Baguette works well. Easier to eat
Try this with avocado instead of butter
Who needs the butter. Tastes much richer with Skyr.
Using the best sardines is so important and I've taken a liking to the big jarred ones in olive oil (Ortiz?). Yes, a splurge but so worth it whether for this or for Sicilian bucatini and bread crumbs. Yum.
Or NURI Portuguese Sardines , fantastic! You would need either to find them online, or look on the Web for selling points as they are imported to the USA.
World Market sells them.
Too good! Even though my whole wheat isn't quite "rustic."
Baguette is good to use.
Watch the ratio between butter & sardines.
Didn’t have dills! Still very good.
Butter and sardines work! Easier than tuna salad. Radish pairs well. Pepin's carrot & parsley salad goes very well. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6388-carrot-and-parsley-salad
How dare you, Sam? Rye bread is ghastly!
Hmm, so good. I add butter to hot boiled eggs, mash them up with a grind of pepper and sea salt. That’s the base, then those gorgeous sardines. Dill and arugula are fine partners.
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