Santos Recipe for June: Sweet and sour sardine bun

01 / 06 / 2018 —

We want you to enjoy your kitchen while preparing the simplest to the most elaborate recipes. Alone or in company, in silence or with your favourite music playing in the background, on a rainy day or a hot summer day. This June, we encourage you to try this recipe for Sweet and sour sardine bun.

Ingredients

For the bread buns (6 buns weighing approximately 140 g)

1. 500 g strong flour
2. 6 g fresh yeast or 2 g dry yeast
3. 10 g salt
4. 300 ml lukewarm water
5. 35 g butter, soft
6. 1 egg (for egg wash)
7. 1 tablespoon milk (for egg wash)
8. For decorating: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, squash seeds

For the sweet and sour sardine filling

1. 1/2 savoury lemon confit, or zest of 1 lemon
2. 1 sprig of parsley, chopped
3. 1 large red onion
4. 5 tablespoons oil
5. 70 g pine nuts
6. 70 g raisins
7. 12 large sardines in oil
8. Salt and freshly ground pepper
9. 2 tablespoons of laurel honey
10. Rocket

Method

Bread buns

In a large bowl, combine the sifted flour with the fresh yeast rubbing it between your hands. Add the salt and blend. Slowly add the water whilst mixing constantly. Mix until it forms a dough. Keep mixing and add the butter little by little, in small pieces. Continue until the dough has absorbed all of the butter. Knead for about 15 minutes. If, after 15 minutes, the dough still does not pass the windowpane test, let it stand for 10 minutes and then knead it for another 2 minutes.

The windowpane test consists in removing a piece of the dough we are preparing, and stretching it between your thumbs and first two fingers. If it has been properly kneaded, it will not break and instead will stretch like gum, forming a thin translucent membrane. This test will let you know at what stage of kneading the dough is found.

Shape the dough into a ball and leave it in the fridge overnight, in a lightly oiled bowl covered with a cloth.

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge 20 minutes before using it to bring it back to room temperature, and then divide it into 6 portions weighing approximately 140 g each. Roll the portions into balls and flatten them slightly with your hand, otherwise they will rise too much. Cover and leave to prove, at room temperature, for about 45-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 210 ºC (gas mark 6-7) with heat top and bottom.

When there are about 10-15 minutes left for the buns to prove, place an ovenproof dish with hot water at the bottom of the oven.

Brush the bread dough with water if you want the buns to have a whitish colour or with egg yolk and milk if you want them to be golden.

Cover with the seeds that you like best. Bake in the oven for about 18-20 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, remove the ovenproof dish with water from the oven.

When the buns are baked, remove them from the oven and leave to cool completely on a rack.

The sweet and sour sardine filling

Pour the oil in a frying pan and sauté the red onion, diced into very small cubes, for about 8 minutes over medium-low heat.

Turn up the heat and add pine nuts, toasting them for about 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice open the preserved lemon, extract the pulp and chop it into small dice. Mix the lemon pulp (or zest) with the raisins. Turn the heat, on the frying pan, back down to medium-low and add the lemon confit and raisins. Lightly crush the sardines with a fork and add them to the mixture. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients. Add two tablespoons of honey and stir again. Sauté for a few minutes. Remove from the heat, add the chopped parsley and set aside in a bowl.

Sandwich assembly

Slice the buns in half and toast, face down, for a few minutes in the frying pan which was used to prepare the filling over a high heat. Apart from absorbing the flavours that remain in the frying pan this will help make the buns more crusty and tender.

Place a layer of chopped rocket leaves, on the bun bottom, to accompany the sweet and sour filling. Place a few spoonful’s of the filling on top and cover with the other half of the bun.

To see photos of the preparation and final presentation of this recipe, please visit the blog Sweet and sour.