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Basque-style Hake with Garlic and Sauce Romesco

A recipe from...
Prep time
20 mins
Cooking Time
20 mins
Serves
4

Ingredients

msc ecolabel landscape

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

Method

  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.
    Basque style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 1
  2. 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.
    Basque style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 2
  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.
    Basque-style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 3
  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.
    Basque-style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 4
  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.
    Basque-style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 5
  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.
    Basque-style hake with garlic and sauce romesco - Step 6
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