Created by ImPat on October 31, 2014
Step 1: For the tapenade, blanch garlic cloves in boiling water for 2 minutes (this helps to reduce their pungency).
Step 2: Meanwhile, rinse the olive, capers and anchovies, then drain and pat dry with paper towel.
Step 3: Place the olives, capers and anchovies in a food processor with the garlic cloves and then pulse to form a coarse paste and now with the motor running drizzle in enough of the olive oil to make the tapenade glossy and supple and then add two good twists of black pepper from a pepper mill and then pulse again to combine.
Step 4: These proportions will give you a very olivey tapenade, so taste it and feel free to add more capers, garlic or anchovies if your palate demands it - I'm not a huge fan of olives but I loved this once the sardines and lemon juice were applied.
Step 5: You can store the tapenade in a small jar, under a layer of olive oil, in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Step 6: Drain the sardines, then split each fish into 2 shiny fillets, you can remove the backbone if you don't like the crunchiness (don't think it is really worth it), set the sardines aside, you may also wish to remove the head if your sardines come complete.
Step 7: Preheat the grill to medium high and toast the bread on each side for 1 to 2 minutes until golden and warmed through.
Step 8: Spread the cut side of the bread with tapenade (you just need to smeer) and then cut into wedges and then top with sardines and garnish with shaved parmesan (we actually grated the parmesan) and chopped parsley (we used leaves of parsley to decorate).
Step 9: Drizzle with olive oil, and then serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over.