Posts tagged seabream

Roasted Gnocchi, Pea Puree & Seabream

M

eals like this take me no time but I appreciate that isn’t always the case for everyone but if you’re comfortable with boiling, roasting and turning on a blender then you’ll do just fine. I highly recommend a good blender such as a Nutribullet/Ninja for that heavenly silky smooth pea puree but a rustic chunky version would not distract from this creation.

I love my gnocchi boiled and roasted – if you haven’t tried this before, they are essentially your ‘lazy mans’ mini roast potatoes. Crispy gnocchi on sweet and creamy peas with some fresh lemony fish. This could almost be my last supper. This recipe served 2 hungry people but would easily serve 3. Just add more peas and gnocchi to scale up.

Serves 2-3

  • 2-3 seabream fillets
  • 300g frozen peas
  • 2 tsp pesto
  • 1 stock cube
  • 1 large garlic glove, peeled
  • 500g pack of fresh gnocchi
  • 1 lemon, to serve.
  1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a really generous pinch salt – as salty as the sea.
  2. Add the fresh gnocchi and simmer for 2 minutes. Drain well and then spread on a lined baking tray – don’t crowd them, they need space. Season well and drizzle lightly but evenly with some olive oil.
  3. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until they are turning golden like roast potatoes.
  4. To make the pea puree, add the peas to a pan and top with enough boiling water to cover. Crumble in the stock cube and stir to dissolve. Smash the peeled garlic clove with the back of a knife and add to the pan. Simmer the peas in the stock for about 3 minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat, drain the peas but reserve the stock! Put the peas and garlic into a blender. Add generous salt and pepper, the pesto and a small splash of the cooking stock (you can always add more but you can’t take away!) Reserve the rest of the stock in case you need it again.
  6. Blitz the peas in your blender until silky smooth and the texture of a thick soup – add a bit more stock if needed. Taste, adjust the seasoning and set aside.
  7. Season & oil your fish fillets and either pan fry (3 minutes skin side down) or roast (about 5 minutes) with the gnocchi until just cooked.
  8. To serve, spoon a lovely smooth spoonful of pea puree into a pasta bowl. Top with your crunchy roasted gnocchi and top with your fish. Squeeze over some lovely lemon juice or zest and devour.

Spring Stew

T

his green spring stew celebrates vegetables but warms the stomach and is a nice transition from a cold Spring day to a Summer evening! You can absolutely experiment with adding different vegetables such as those listed below – weights and measures are also very rough here. Use your hands and throw things in! Just be concious of the cooking times of the different vegetables you choose – asparagus will need to just touch the heat before its overcooked, while green beans will need a little more time. So add these along the way accordingly. Open to variation but the lardons and garlic provide a good foundation and depth of flavour to build on so I recommend these as a must.

I cooked and served this with a delicately fried piece of seabass but a pan fried fillet of soft pink trout would be an excellent and seasonal choice. Topped with a dollop of homemade and indulgent hollandaise (see here) if you want to take this to a higher level or add another dimension.

Serves 2

  • 2 x seabass/seabream/trout fillets
  • 300g frozen garden peas (approximate weight)
  • 2 x little gem lettuce, chopped roughly
  • 200g smoked bacon lardons
  • 200g sugar snaps peas/green beans/asparagus tips/chopped courgettes (or a mixture of them all)
  • 1 red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
  • 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 lemon, juice only
  • 1/2 stock cube
  • 1 tbsp soft unsalted butter (For the beurre manie, see Cheffy Tip!)
  • 1 tbsp flour

Cheffy Tip: I often use a ‘beurre manie’ (aka, kneaded butter) when I want to thicken a sauce but not make a white sauce or a roux. When you make a casserole and the sauce is a bit thin, or when you want to make the juices in a pan a bit thicker this is your tactic! When you mix the butter and flour into a paste, you coat the flour in butter particles. That way, when you stir this paste into hot sauces and liquids, the butter melts and distributes the flour particles evenly ensuring there are no lumps! (Ideally). You can make a small bowl and then add in tablespoons bit by bit until the thickness desired.

  1. Heat a splash of olive/sunflower oil in a frying pan and sauté the red onion for 8-10 minutes until translucent and softening. Continue cooking until they begin to turn a little golden but don’t burn. Season well.
  2. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes only.
  3. Add the bacon lardons and cook through until crispy.
  4. Crumble the half stock cube into a mug and add some hot water (about 300ml but its not exact, you won’t use it all, it will have to be used by eye)
  5. Add the frozen peas and toss briefly. You now need to work quickly as the pea, sugar snaps and lettuce will cook fast and you don’t want soggy overcooked fresh greens! Ideally the vege/lettuce should be al dente.
  6. Pour a good splash of the hot stock into the frying pan, enough so that there is a ‘sauce’ that will simmer you veges but not so that its swimming! You don’t need to use all the stock but its there to balance the sauce as you wish. Bring to a simmer.
  7. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mash the soft butter with the flour to a paste until dough like (this is called a ‘beurre manie’). Whisk this quickly into the liquid in the frying pan – I stress quickly to ensure no lumps. This ‘paste’ will thicken the sauce but ensure no lumps. Simmer very gently and you should see the sauce start to thicken a touch. Make/add more more paste as needed if you’ve added lots of stock.
  8. Once you’ve done this, add the chopped little gems and the vegetables of choice and cover the pan with a lid. Let the heat and sauce steam the veges just a touch to let it warm but not go too soggy.
  9. The ‘stew’ should have a thick gravy like sauce but its shouldn’t be swimming in moisture so if it is, just turn the heat up a notch and reduce some of the liquid down. Remove the pan from the heat when ready, check and season as needed and scatter in the chopped parsley.
  10. Finally, add a good squeeze of lemon for seasoning.
  11. Enjoy with a pan fried fillet of fish or steamed cod. Trout would be a great addition here.

Chorizo & Butterbean Stew

T

his recipe is the absolute ideal for a balmy, summer provoking Monday night after work. My mind battled with the joys of staying out in the sun as long as possible and the equal craving for some kitchen relaxation that only stirring a pan with a wooden spoon can bring. Ideal for a speedy but flavoursome dinner that can be knocked up in minutes for one, for two, or for many and tomorrows leftovers.  Admittedly my holiday blues were kicking in….so the Med influence snuck back to the kitchen.

Mediterranean food is not usually my cuisine of choice but having spent last week in Corfu on a grounding, enlightening and entertaining yoga retreat (Just Relax Yoga retreats) dining on gorgeous vegetarian tapas and authentic Greek dishes, it solidified my theory that you only need just a few star ingredients to make a knock out dish. After many a beer one night in the Greek sun and a hunger like a pig on a diet, me and the yogis frantically ordered a table full of tapas. Now it may…may have been the hunger and hanger that made it more memorable but when a glutinous bowl of giant butter beans bathed and hugged in a smooth creamy tomato sauce was placed in front of me, I was in heaven. Devine. I’ll admit, the butter beans were twice the size in Greece but beggars can’t be choosers in London eh? After a week in Greece I was keen to get something similar into my regime…

Serves 2

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • 400-500g chopped tomatoes (1 can or carton)
  • 150g chorizo, diced/cubed
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds, light toasted then crushed
  • 1 x can butter beans, drained
  • Bunch basil and parsley, chopped
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 x sea bream or a white fish fillet of choice.
  1. Soften the onion in a little olive oil in a saucepan for about 10 minutes until translucent and starting to caramelise.
  2. Add the chorizo and the garlic and cook for a few more minutes until the chorizo is beginning to crisp and release its oils.
  3. Add the chopped tomatoes, crushed fennel seed and some generous seasoning.
  4. Simmer until reduced a little for 5 minutes or so.
  5. Add the drained butter beans and heat through.
  6. Simmer until reduced to a stew like texture. Taste and season as needed.
  7. Finally add the lemon zest and herbs and stir to combine.
  8. Serve with fried or grilled fish and a scattering of leftovers herbs and lemon! (Gremolata is wanted)