Sardines in Saor

Duration: 50 min + 24 h resting time

Difficulty:  Medium

Origin: Veneto

Sardines in saor are a typical Venetian recipe. Saor in Venetian means “flavor” and in fact this very tasty recipe consists of whole sardines marinated in a delicious sweet and sour sauce based on onions flavored with raisins and pine nuts. An ancient traditional dish of the Serenissima, it is traditionally prepared for the Feast of the Redeemer, the third Sunday of July. The strong flavor of the sardines is mitigated and enriched by the sweet and sour effect of the onions and raisins (sweet) with the wine vinegar (sour).

Ingredients

For 4 people:

• 600 g of sardines or anchovies
• 3 white onions
• 1 glass of vinegar
• 80 g of raisins
• 50 g of pine nuts
• Flour to taste
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

How to Proceed

The traditional recipe calls for sardines, but if you prefer it is also fine for anchovies.

Take the sardines, clean them thoroughly by scaling and gutting them under running water and finally clean them, removing the head. Then divide them into two fillets, eliminating the central bone.

Let them dry, leaving them a little damp so that by lightly flouring them a very thin layer of flour remains attached to their entire surface.

Prepare a pan, add plenty of olive oil and start frying the sardines one after the other. Once well fried, remove them from the frying area with a slotted spoon and after having drained them well, leave them to dry on a layer of absorbent kitchen paper. Then once dry, add a light sprinkling of salt.

Take the onions, peel them and then slice them not very finely. Take a pan and after adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add the sliced onions. Fry them until they are golden brown.

At the moment of maximum strength, add a glass of vinegar and add a little salt and a spoonful of sugar. Simmer the onions in the vinegar over high heat, allowing them to dry a little, then add the raisins previously soaked in water (and squeezed) and the pine nuts. Simmer for another ten minutes over low heat and with the lid closed.

Take a fairly deep bowl (better a glass container with a lid) (three or four fingers) and start placing a layer of fried sardines. Then cover them with a layer of saor, that is the base of onions, and then another layer of sardines, and then saor. In the end the sardines must be completely covered by the saor. Cover the bowl with cling film, or if you have chosen the glass container, close it directly with the lid. Place the sardines in saor in the refrigerator.

Leave the sardines to marinate in saor for at least a day before serving them.

You can serve them together with hot mashed potatoes or a base of polenta, in order to also create a warm – room temperature contrast. To enhance the colors you can choose a white puree or white polenta.