Tony Jackman’s fresh hake cooked au gratin style in an air fryer. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
In my Yorkshire dad’s world, fish au gratin was (and, always for me, still is) fish baked in the oven with a topping of golden fried onions and grated cheese, which meld together under the grill while the cheese melts and turns golden and, depending on the variety of cheese, either molten or crisp, or a bit of both.
The technique of gratination in an oven (or today in an air fryer) is also applied to potato bakes such as Pommes Dauphinois, lasagne from Italy, Greek zucchini bakes, and everyone’s favourite childhood supper, macaroni cheese. And what is a perfect mound of cauliflower cheese, finished under the grill of an oven or air fryer, if not a gratin… and better still if it has a few light breadcrumbs on top to turn perfection even better.
I cooked fresh hake fillets in the air fryer, but you can pan-fry them first if you prefer, but not all the way through as it needs to continue cooking under an oven grill or in an air fryer.
Ingredients
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter
Black pepper and salt for the onions
Picked thyme leaves
Olive oil cooking spray
2 x 250 g fresh hake fillets, skin on
200 g grated mature Cheddar cheese or similar
Salt and white pepper to taste
Method
Fry the sliced onion in butter, with some picked thyme leaves and seasoned with black pepper and a little salt, slowly until golden and caramelised. Set aside.
Grate cheese and set aside.
Preheat the air fryer at 200℃ for at least 5 minutes.
Spray the basket and both sides of the fish. Season the fish lightly on both sides with salt and white pepper.
Place skin-side up in the air fryer and cook it for 6 minutes at 200℃.
Turn and spoon the onions on top, then sprinkle grated Cheddar on top, generously.
Cook for another 6 minutes. A simple side of peas simmered in butter with mint, and some good old chips, would be a perfect match. . DM