French Sardine Apéro Dip (10-Minute Recipe)
A fifteen-minute apéro dip built on tinned sardines, shallots, and a squeeze of lemon. The one that is always first to go.
Serves
6
Prep
15 min
Cook
0 min
Difficulty
Easy
This recipe belongs to my wife. She has been making it since before we were married, which is over twenty years ago now, and it has been on the table at every apéro we have hosted since. It is not a recipe we decided to feature. It is simply what we make.
We keep four cans of sardines in the cupboard at all times. Not because we planned to, but because we learned the hard way what happens when friends arrive unexpectedly on a warm evening and you have nothing ready. Now we are never without them.
If the sardines are there and the shallots are there, we are fifteen minutes from an apéro. The rest fills itself in. If the butcher across the road is still open, you go. If he is not, his vending machine is - dried sausage, always stocked, available at any hour, a bloody marvel. A packet of biscuits from the pantry. A bottle of rosé from the fridge if there is one, otherwise quickly pop one from the wine rack into an ice bucket.
The dip takes ten minutes. We are outside before the bottle has had time to sweat. That is what this recipe is. Not a project. An answer.
Ingredients
- •2 cans sardines in oil, drained
- •2 shallots (or 1 small white onion), very finely chopped
- •2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- •1 lemon or lime, zest of half
- •1 lemon or lime, juice of half
- •1 pinch smoked paprika
- •1 pinch cayenne pepper (or a few dashes of Tabasco)
- •Salt and white pepper
🐸 Marcel says:
Keep four cans in the cupboard at all times. You will thank yourself on the evening when unexpected guests appear and the sun is still warm.
Instructions
- 1
Chop the shallots as finely as you can. You want them to disappear into the dip, not announce themselves in every bite.
- 2
Drain the sardines thoroughly and tip into a bowl. Mash with a fork, but stop short of a paste. The fish should still have some texture and presence. It should look like sardine, not baby food.
- 3
Add the shallots to the sardines. Add the mayonnaise and mix through. The dip should be thick at this point, which is correct. Add the zest of half a lemon or lime, then the smoked paprika and cayenne (or Tabasco). Season with salt and white pepper. Mix well. In summer, when fresh dill is easy to find, add a small handful finely chopped. It turns this into a different dip, lighter and more herbal, and it is worth doing.
- 4
Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon or lime a little at a time, mixing as you go, until the dip loosens just enough to spread easily on a cracker without sliding off. Taste and adjust: more cayenne if you want heat, more lemon if it needs brightness.
Notes
- Granulated garlic works well if you want an extra layer of flavour.
- Serve at room temperature on crackers or sliced baguette.
- It is the first thing to go at any apéro, which is either a compliment to the recipe or an indictment of how hungry people arrive.
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