BASQUE-STYLE HAKE WITH GARLIC AND SAUCE ROMESCO

20 minutes Serves 4 Chef photo
COOKING TIME
20 mins
SERVES
4
CHEF'S PHOTO

A healthy recipe using hake (or any other white fish fillet such as cod, halibut or flounder), with a classic garnish from Northern Spain. By UK writer and restaurateur Mitch Tonks. Mitch Tonks

20 minutes Serves 4 Mitch Tonks
COOKING TIME
20 mins
SERVES
4
RECIPE BY
CHEF MITCH TONKS

A healthy recipe using hake (or any other white fish fillet such as cod, halibut or flounder), with a classic garnish from Northern Spain. By UK writer and restaurateur Mitch Tonks.

Here's Chef's version, now it's your turn!

DID YOU KNOW?

Hake are one of the healthiest fish because the tender meat is very low in fat, and also contains phosphorus and calcium for healthy bone growth.
Hake are fished in the Southeast, Southwest and Northeast Pacific and the Southeast and Northeast Atlantic.

DID YOU KNOW?

Hake are one of the healthiest fish because the tender meat is very low in fat, and also contains phosphorus and calcium for healthy bone growth.

Hake are fished in the Southeast, Southwest and Northeast Pacific and the Southeast and Northeast Atlantic.

Hake become sexually mature relatively late which means overfished stocks will recover slowly. So it is important to buy only fully grown fish from sustainable fisheries. Hake are nocturnal hunters. Their favourite prey are smaller schooling fish such as herrings, sprats, mackerels and sardines.

Ready to cook? Let's see what you need!

INGREDIENTS

REMEMBER TO

½ dried nora/choricero chilli
4 MSC certified hake fillets, about 180–200g each, with skin on
100ml olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
20ml good quality agrodolce vinegar (e.g. white balsamic vinegar)
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
salt

For the sauce Romesco

4 dried nora/choricero chillies
100g whole blanched almonds
6 garlic cloves, peeled
12 roasted pequillo peppers
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon hot smoked paprika
25ml sherry vinegar
100ml olive oil
salt

Let's cook!

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.  Soak the dried chillies for both the fish and the sauce in separate bowls for 10 minutes, then drain and deseed. 

STEP 2

For the sauce: Place the almonds and the 4 soaked chillies in a processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the garlic, roasted peppers and spices and pulse again. Add the vinegar, most of the olive oil (reserve 1 tablespoonful for later) and a pinch of salt, then pulse again to produce a thick sauce that is neither too chunky nor too smooth.

STEP 3

Fry the hake fillets skin-side down in a large, ovenproof frying pan in the reserved olive oil until lightly golden. Turn, then transfer the pan to the oven and roast the fish for about 5 minutes, or until just cooked through

STEP 4

Finely slice the soaked dried chilli. Heat the garlic in a little olive oil, add the sliced dried chilli and a pinch of salt. Cook gently for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to distribute the garlic and chilli.

STEP 5

As soon as the edges of the garlic begin to turn golden, take off the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add a splash of the agrodolce vinegar and the chopped parsley.

STEP 6

Remove the hake from the oven, put a fillet on each serving plate and peel away the skin. Spoon a little sauce over each piece of fish and serve with a spoonful of Romesco sauce.

Before you tuck in! We'd love to see your finished dish. Take a photo and share it on Facebook OR INSTAGRAM: TAG US @MSCeCOLABEL AND INCLUDE #BigBlueFuture.

WATCH VIDEO

BASQUE-STYLE HAKE WITH GARLIC AND SAUCE ROMENESCO

Now enjoy your dish in the knowledge you've helped protect our oceans.

Because sustainable seafood is...

GOOD FOR YOU...

...AND OUR OCEANS TOO

AND WE NEED OUR OCEANS TO THRIVE

They contain 80 percent of our world’s biodiversity. They’re the lungs of our planet, providing us with the oxygen we need. And they feed over 3 billion people.
They contain 80 percent of our world’s biodiversity.
They’re the lungs of our planet, providing us with the oxygen we need.
And they feed over 3 billion people.

So the next time you buy fish, remember to look for the little blue label.

This means your seafood has been sourced by a fishery committed to protecting fish stocks, habitats and livelihoods.

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Eye Image Credits

Chef Mitch portrait: www.therockfish.co.uk


Hake illustration: © Scandinavian Fishing Year Book

Chef's dish photo: www.therockfish.co.uk


Earth: Shutterstock