Smoky Sardine and Chickpea Skillet with Mustard Greens
Chickpeas crisped in olive oil with garlic and smoked paprika, burst cherry tomatoes and wilted mustard greens, sardines warmed through and a paprika almond crumb over the top.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
I built this around the tins in my cupboard on a morning when there was nothing else in the house, and it has stayed in the rotation ever since. Sardines need no cooking, which means the only real work is crisping the chickpeas, and the whole pan is done inside twenty minutes. The flavor is Spanish in feel, smoky and garlicky with a hard edge of vinegar at the end, and it is savory enough that it wakes you up properly. It also happens to be one of the cheapest hot breakfasts I know how to make.
The chickpeas are the step worth taking seriously. Drained, rinsed, and then dried properly on a towel, they go into hot oil and spend six or seven minutes turning gold and splitting open, and the split ones go crunchy at the edges while the insides stay creamy. That contrast is what makes the pan interesting to eat. Mustard greens go in last and need almost no time at all, ninety seconds to lose their raw pepperiness and turn glossy. Any longer and they slump into something gray, so keep the tongs in your hand.
The almond crumb is the thing people ask about. Chopped almonds toasted with a little smoked paprika and a pinch of salt, crushed under the flat of a knife, and scattered over at the end so nothing has a chance to soften them. It gives every forkful a bit of grit and carries the smoke up over the top of the dish. Eat this straight from the skillet with a spoon, with lemon if you have it. It reheats well for lunch too, though the crumb wants to be made fresh.
Ingredients
- 4 tins whole sardines in olive oil (about 3 3/4 oz each), drained, soft bones left in
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- 1 large bunch mustard greens (about 12 oz), thick stems trimmed, leaves torn into large pieces
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (about 9 oz), halved
- 1/3 cup raw almonds (about 2 oz), roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, divided
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the paprika almond crumb: Toast the chopped almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat for four minutes, shaking often, until they smell nutty and the cut faces are gold. Take the pan off the heat, stir in 1/2 tsp of the smoked paprika and a pinch of salt while the pan is still warm, and tip everything onto a plate. Crush lightly under the flat of a knife once cool.
- Crisp the chickpeas: Dry the chickpeas thoroughly on a towel, since wet ones will steam and never crisp. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high and add the chickpeas in one layer. Cook seven to eight minutes, stirring only every couple of minutes, until they are blistered, gold, and some have split open.
- Add the garlic and paprika: Turn the heat down to medium, push the chickpeas to one side, and add the sliced garlic to the cleared space. Cook thirty to forty seconds, just until it turns pale gold at the edges, then stir in the remaining 1 tsp smoked paprika and the black pepper and toss everything together for fifteen seconds so the spice blooms in the oil.
- Burst the tomatoes: Add the halved cherry tomatoes cut side down and leave them undisturbed for three minutes, until the cut faces brown and start to collapse. Stir once and cook two minutes more, pressing a few against the pan with the back of a spoon so they release their juice and make a loose sauce around the chickpeas.
- Wilt the greens: Pile the mustard greens in and toss continuously with tongs for ninety seconds. They will look like far too much and then suddenly will not, collapsing to a quarter of their volume and turning glossy dark green. Pull the pan off the heat the moment the last leaf goes down, while the stems still have some bite.
- Warm the sardines and finish: Lay the drained sardines across the surface, cover the pan, and let them sit off the heat for two minutes so they warm through without breaking up. Uncover, add the vinegar around the edges of the pan, and scatter the parsley and the almond crumb over everything. Serve straight from the skillet.
Variations
- With a fried egg: Slide a fried egg onto each portion so the yolk runs down into the chickpeas.
- Lemon and oregano: Swap the vinegar for the juice of a whole lemon and add a teaspoon of dried oregano with the paprika.
- White beans: Use cannellini beans in place of the chickpeas for a softer, creamier pan that comes together a few minutes faster.
- Hotter: Add a crumbled dried chili or half a teaspoon of cayenne with the garlic for real heat under the smoke.
- Tinned mackerel: Use two tins of mackerel fillets in place of the sardines for a richer, softer fish that flakes into the sauce.
Storage & Leftovers
Leftovers keep three days in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and the flavor deepens as the paprika and garlic settle into the tomato juices. The sardines will break up as you store and reheat them, which is fine, and by day two the whole thing eats more like a thick stew than a skillet.
Reheat in a dry skillet over medium heat for three or four minutes rather than in a microwave, which turns the chickpeas soft and makes the fish taste stronger. Add a splash of water if the pan looks dry and a fresh splash of vinegar at the end to wake it back up.
Keep the almond crumb in a small jar at room temperature for up to a week and add it only as you serve. Stored on the dish it goes soft overnight and loses the whole point of it. I usually make a double batch of the crumb, since it is good on eggs and roasted vegetables too.
Notes & Tips
- Dry the chickpeas on a towel: Five minutes spread on a clean dish towel is the whole difference between blistered chickpeas and pale steamed ones.
- Bloom the paprika in oil, off high heat: Smoked paprika scorches fast and turns bitter. Lower the burner first, then give it fifteen seconds in the fat to open up.
- Tomatoes go in cut side down: Left alone for three minutes on their cut faces they caramelize rather than just softening, which is where the sweetness comes from.
- Pull the greens early: Mustard greens keep cooking in the residual heat of the pan. If they look right in the skillet, they will be overdone on the plate.
- Warm the sardines under a lid, off the heat: Direct heat breaks them apart. Two minutes of trapped steam gets them hot and leaves them whole.
- Crush the almonds, do not chop them fine: Uneven pieces under the flat of a knife give you a crumb with texture rather than dust that disappears into the sauce.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Sardines, chickpeas, mustard greens, and almonds each pull their weight in the same skillet. The fish carries the protein and most of the calcium, the chickpeas bring the fiber and the creamy middles, the greens add both minerals and bulk, and the almonds land on top with crunch and vitamin E.
- Sardines are small enough to be eaten whole, and the soft backbone is where their calcium sits. They also carry vitamin D and the long-chain omega-3 fats, which is a lot for a fish that needs nothing done to it but a turn in a warm pan.
- Mustard greens are peppery raw and turn glossy and mild after ninety seconds in a hot skillet, and they hold calcium and vitamin K in a form that suits a dish already leaning on the fish for the same thing.
- Chickpeas crisped in olive oil split open and go crunchy at the edges while staying creamy inside, and that soluble fiber is part of why a bowl of this settles in and stays with you.
- Smoked paprika, sliced garlic, and cider vinegar are what you taste first, smoky and sharp at once, and the almond crumb keeps a bit of grit in every forkful right down to the last one.
- As you eat, find the chickpeas that split and went crunchy against the soft ones, and notice how the vinegar changes the whole pan, then let yourself stop when the skillet still has a little left in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to eat the bones in the sardines?
You do not have to, but they are the best thing in the tin. Canning softens the backbone until it crushes with no effort at all and you will not notice it in the eating, and that bone is where most of the fish's calcium sits. Pulling it out is throwing away the reason to buy sardines in the first place.
My chickpeas never got crisp.
Water and crowding are the two culprits. Rinsed chickpeas hold a surprising amount of liquid, so spread them on a towel and blot the tops as well. Then give them a pan wide enough that they sit in one layer, because piled up they steam each other and stay soft no matter how long you cook them.
What can I use in place of mustard greens?
Kale needs three or four minutes rather than ninety seconds but works well. Collards are sturdier still and want five. Arugula is the fastest option and goes in completely off the heat, wilting in the residual warmth, which keeps its pepperiness intact. Any of them will do the job.
Can I make this ahead for the week?
Cook the chickpeas, tomatoes, and greens through step five and refrigerate that base for up to three days. In the morning, warm a portion in a skillet, lay the sardines on top, and finish with vinegar and crumb. That gets you a hot plate in about four minutes with no real cooking involved.