Sardines with salad onions, fennel & romesco sauce

To make the romesco sauce, heat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Put the peppers and tomatoes into a small roasting tin. Tuck the garlic cloves underneath. Drizzle with the olive oil, season, sprinkle on the paprika and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until the tomatoes and peppers are soft and slightly scorched.

You can peel the skin off the peppers but I rarely do – I like the charred flavour. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins. Put everything for the sauce into a food processor including the nuts and extra virgin olive oil and whizz. Taste for seasoning and set aside. You can make this ahead and chill in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.

Quarter the fennel bulbs, trim the bases and remove the hard green tops. Take off any tough or discoloured outer leaves. Cut the flesh into 2cm slices. Put into a roasting tin where they can lie in a single layer. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, then add the garlic, chilli flakes, fennel seeds and some seasoning and toss. Cover the top tightly with foil. Put into the oven (still at 200ºC, gas mark 6) and cook for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for 15 minutes more, or until tender and golden in patches.

Put the salad onions into another tin or a baking sheet with a rim, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and some seasoning. Roast for 15 minutes with the fennel, until tender and slightly charred. Set the fennel and salad onions aside (arrange them on a platter before serving).

Wash the sardines inside and out, then dry with kitchen paper. Brush with a little olive oil and sprinkle with some sea salt. Cook on a barbecue or griddle or in a nonstick frying pan for 2-4 minutes each side (depending on their size), until cooked and opaque and the flesh flakes easily at the backbone. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve with the romesco sauce