Difficulty:[usr 3]
Ask your fishmonger to scale the sardines, to empty them by removing the head and the central bone without detaching the two fillets. Rinse them and pat them dry. Salt and pepper them on both sides.
Prepare the stuffing:peel the onion and chop finely. Reduce the breadcrumbs into large semolina, in a food processor. Rinse the mint leaves and chop them.
Heat half the oil in a 22cm non-stick frying pan and brown the onion for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the pine nuts and mix for another 2 minutes. Add the bread, sugar, chilli, salt and pepper and stir for another minute. Remove from the heat, wet with orange juice and vinegar, and pour the mixture into a terrine. Add the raisins and mint and mix one last time.
Turn on the oven, th 8 (250°C). Lightly oil a 26 x 18 cm baking dish. Lay the sardines one by one skin side down on a board. Place 1/12° of the stuffing on the side of the head by pressing it between the palms of your hands. Roll the sardines, from head to tail, loosely. Arrange them as you go in the dish.
Coat the sardines with the remaining oil. Slide the dish into the oven and cook for 25 minutes. Serve these sardines hot, warm or cold.
Source:La Cuisine des Parfums (Scotto Sisters)
