What’s cooking today: Roasted fish fillets with a pistachio crumb

Use a firm white fish for this, such as kingklip, dorado, or kabeljou if you can source the sustainable aquaculture-farmed variety. The pistachios should not be crushed so much that they become dust; let them retain a good bit of crunch for the best effect.

This recipe is best garnished with this column. 

Ingredients

2 firm white fish fillets, skin on

100 g natural unsalted raw (green) pistachios, chopped finely

Handful parsley, finely chopped

Coarsely ground black pepper

1 slice of day-old seeded brown bread, crumbled

Salt to taste

Butter

Olive oil

Method

Chop the pistachios fairly finely; they should be partly small crumbs and partly pistachio “dust”. Use a broad board, as the pistachios will do a merry dance while you’re chopping them. And use a heavy chef’s knife. And be careful.

Chop the parsley and crumble the bread.

Combine crumbled pistachios, breadcrumbs and parsley in a bowl, grind in some black pepper and a little salt, and stir well.

Preheat the oven to 170℃.

Remove any pin bones, taking care not to break the flesh.

Melt butter and add olive oil on a moderate heat until foaming and slightly browned.

Season fillets on both sides. Fry fillets skin side down for about 5 minutes, then transfer the pan to a preheated 170℃ oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Spoon on the crumb generously, drizzle with olive oil and return to the oven to roast for another 10 minutes. I served them with blanched green beans and sliced courgettes sautéed in olive oil, seasoned simply with salt and pepper. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman is the Galliova Food Champion of the Year 2021. His book, foodSTUFF, is now available in the DM Shop. Buy it here.

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