Smoked anchovies on toast with baked new-season garlic
I’ve been smoking anchovies at The Chesil Smokery in Bridport for a good while now. There are some good smoked anchovies in cans on the market from Spain but I could well be the only one producing them in the UK along with the team at Chesil. You can catch anchovies off the south-west coast and it’s good to make use of what’s coming out of UK waters. Like other small pelagic species, anchovies are sustainable and need to be eaten. If you can’t find any, use smoked sardines or sprats instead.
If you grow your own garlic you will know how different it is from the regular bulbs you get in the supermarket. It’s sweeter and milder and I love it baked like this on toast. It works well having the components separate so your guests do the work loading it on to the toast as a sharing or individual starter.
Timings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 60-80 minutes
Serves
4
Ingredients
2 large or 4 small bulbs of new-season garlic
4 slices of sourdough bread or baguette
50-60g unsalted butter, slightly softened
25-30 smoked anchovy or sardine fillets
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
Wrap the garlic bulbs in foil and bake for 60-80 minutes (depending on size) until soft. Remove and leave to cool a little.
Meanwhile, toast the bread. Cut the garlic bulbs in half horizontally and arrange on a board or divide among 4 plates with the toast, butter and anchovies. To eat, scoop out the roast garlic cloves from the papery skin and spread on to buttered toast then lay the anchovy fillets on top.
