Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what’s in it and where it comes from. She believes that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can transform your experiences from the forgettable to the sublime.
I first tried this when I saw Rick Stein make it on one of his earlier travelogue style TV shows. It is very easy and very, very delicious. Everything is cooked in one pan and should take about 45 minutes from start to finish.
But once you serve it up, it looks sophisticated and elegant and will convince even the most reluctant fish eater to be more adventurous.
Try to get the best quality cooking (i.e. raw) chorizo you can find, because it makes a huge difference to the finished dish. I used Iberico chorizo because it is the most delicious cooking chorizo I have ever tasted (I get it in Fallon & Byrne). It is made from free range, acorn fed Iberian pork and it has no artificial sweeteners, additives or preservatives, unlike most of the cheaper versions. And yes I realise how fancy-pants that sounds, but at least the pigs had a good life and apparently their fat is higher in oleic acid than conventional pork. I know it sounds extravagant, but I think it is worth searching around for the best quality meat you can find. You can of course get great cooking chorizos in the supermarket too, just buy the best one you can afford.
And hake is probably my favourite white fish. The Spanish love it but we don’t eat enough of it here - which is a real shame. I think it has a much better texture and flavour than cod, but you can of course use cod or haddock if you can’t get hake.
This dish makes a great mid week supper but works equally well as a dinner party main course. It is one of my staples and I make it at least once a month when I want to pretend I’m in Spain!
- Ingredients (serves 2)
1 large cooking chorizo (about 190g)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large red pepper
1 spanish onion or large onion
2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
500 g waxy baby potatoes
100 ml dry white wine or dry vermouth
500ml water
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
2 large fillets of hake (about 180g each)
sea salt
black pepper
- Method:
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Peel the chorizo and chop into bitesize pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat and fry the chorizo until it is well browned.
While the chorizo is frying, peel and quarter the onion and cut into thin, half moon slices.
Cut the pepper into slightly larger chunks.
Add them both to the pan and fry gently until they begin to soften.
Slice the baby potatoes lengthways into thin 1 cm slices.
Add the garlic, smoked paprika and a pinch of salt to the pan and stir well.
Turn the heat up slightly and add the sliced potatoes.
Pour in the wine or vermouth and let it bubble away for about a minute to burn off the alcohol.
Add the water, cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but not falling apart.
Season the fish generously with salt and pepper and place it in the pan, skin side down.
Cover again and leave it to steam for 7- 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
You can double check to see if it is cooked by inserting a knife into the centre - it should be white and opaque. Whatever you do, don’t wander off and forget about it or the fish will be ruined! Set a timer on your phone and be ready to eat as soon as it’s done.
Serve in shallow bowls. I like this best with a dry white wine, but there’s nothing stopping you from having it with red too.
Most importantly - enjoy!
Are you tempted to try out this recipe? What is your healthy eating fav? We’d love to hear all about it!
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If you’d like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!
