Fried Sage And Anchovies

Thursday, 16 February 2017

Fried Sage And Anchovies

I first tried deep fried sage and anchovies when I attended a Red Letter Days Cookery Class at Caldessi Cookery School in London last year. It was a Tuscan Cookery Class. To be brutally honest, I was a little disappointed it was on the menu. I don't mind anchovies, on a pizza. But who eats them at a dinner party? Tuscan people do! And do you know why? Because they are absolutely delicious! 

Whilst I didn't have any 00 flour, which is recommended, plain flour can be used and the results are good. My eldest son had been asking to try some anchovies as he had seen some in the cupboard that I had reviewed recently. I thought this was the perfect chance to recreate the dish that I had eaten at Caldessi.

sage anchovies


Fried Sage And Anchovies


  • 2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of milk
  • salt and pepper
  • large sage leaves
  • 1 jar of delicius anchovies
  1. Mix the egg and flour together and then whisk in the milk. I used a cup of semi skimmed milk. The batter is quite light, you don't want it too think and heavy.
  2. Add a little salt and pepper.
  3. Add some oil to a pan and heat it up. (Grape seed oil is recommended but I used vegetable oil.) Add a drop of batter to check that the oil is hot enough.
  4. Take the anchovies out of the jar and make sure they are dried on some kitchen towel. Depending on the size of your sage leaves you may want to cut the anchovies in half.
  5. Sandwich an anchovy between two sage leaves and then dip it in the batter.
  6. Fry until a light golden brown.
  7. Allow to rest on some kitchen towel to get rid of excess fat.
  8. Enjoy whilst warm.
fried sage anchovies

I was pleased to say that my 9 year old loved these as much as I did. I am hoping that we may see them on our trip to Italy later this year.

What is your favourite Tuscan food?

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deep fried sage and anchovies from a tuscan dinner party menu


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