Grilled Sardine with Orange & Pasta Salad

I'm no expert on fish. To tell the truth, I rarely had any chance to clean any fish. In my memory, there were only once where I had to clean a fish which was during my basic western class (though, I did this with a friend). In fact, if they asked me to clean any fish during my final exam in Culinary study, I would fail miserably. I probably wouldn't be able to have my diploma, or my degree. It's not that I didn't know how to do it. It was just that, I never had much opportunity to do it (or, I seemed to be avoiding them).

I made this Grilled Sardine as part of a challenge for myself to clean a fish. The combination of sardine & orange is really refreshing.

Grilled Sardine with Orange & Pasta Salad (inspired from BBC Good Food)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp orange zest

4 fresh sardine fillets

2 oranges

2 tsp orange juice

2 cups boiled Rotini Pasta (spiral)

1 cup spinach - washed, tossed

1/2 cup coriander leaves

1 shallot, thinly sliced

salt & pepper

1. Lightly slash the skin of sardine and marinade fillets with ground black pepper, orange zest and salt. Keep refrigerated for an hour.

2. Heat the grill.

3. Segment the orange. Peel away any white pith.

4. Grill sardine, skin side up until crisp and cooked through in about 5 minutes.

5. Toss in cooked rotini pasta with orange juice, segmented orange, shallot, coriander leaves and spinach.

6. Divide pasta between 2 plates, and top pasta with grilled sardines.

7. Ready to serve.