Lemony Salt-Preserved Anchovies
Always keep your seafood on ice, but particularly the little fish. So have ice in your cooler and at your workstation, and store your fish in the fridge as you go. The $40 scoop of anchovies has over 100 little fish, which is way too many to fillet by myself, so I pre-organize an “Anchovy Olympics,” where a group of my friends come together to fillet anchovies and juice lemons. I play music and make snacks and demonstrate how to fillet. Everyone leaves with jars of these delicious little fish. Use them on crostini, over salads, mixed with sautéed greens, set out on a plate with a parsley garnish and with a good loaf of sourdough, or just eat them from the jar.
Ingredients
- 20 anchovies, cleaned and filleted
- ½ cup kosher salt
- 2 cups fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- Optional: 2 cloves fresh garlic
- Optional: 2 lemon slices
- Optional: 10 peppercorns
Instructions
- Lay the anchovy fillets flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with the salt evenly and put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Remove from the fridge and rinse.
- In a large, deep dish, pour the lemon juice over the fillets. Make sure they are all submerged. Put them in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove and taste. The fillets should be firm and salty, but not too salty and not too lemony. The essence of the anchovy should always be there. When the texture and flavor are the way you like them, remove from the lemon juice.Place them evenly in two clean, small glass jars with the skin side facing out for aesthetics.
- Fill each jar with the oil. Add the aromatics—the garlic cloves, lemon slices and peppercorns—to each jar. Seal the jars and store in the fridge for up to 6 months. Makes 2 (8-ounce) jars or 4 (4-ounce) jars.
