Gurnard fillets with tomato balsamic dressing
Gurnard fillets are small and fairly delicate. They have a line of bones down the centre at the thick portion of the fillet, so once cooked if you tease them open down the central line you can take the bones out quite easily. This recipe has a really light, fresh feel to it and eats very nicely with some simple fried potatoes and perhaps a seasonal salad.
500g gurnard fillets
60ml dry cider
A handful of parsley stalks
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp light olive oil
150g cherry tomatoes
Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Pour the cider into a deep frying pan which has a lid. Add the parsley stalks and salt and pepper, then lay the fish fillets on top, skin side down. Put the lid on and set aside until you have finished the sauce.
In a separate pan, heat the light oil and add the onion and garlic, frying over a gentle to medium heat until the onion is soft – but do not let it brown. It needs to sweatrather than sizzle.
Halve the cherry tomatoes and then squeeze the seeds into a cup, chop the emptied halves roughly and put them into a bowl. Sieve the tomato juice into the bowl, theonly bit you want to throw away is the seeds. Add the warm onion mixture to the tomatoes with the parsley and extra virgin olive oil then add the white balsamic and stir through.
Once your potatoes or other chosen accompaniment are 5-10 minutes away from ready, turn on the heat under the fish pan and let the fillets poach for 5-7 minutes until cooked through.
Add a couple of tablespoons of the poaching liquor to the tomato dressing and serve your fillets with some of the fragrant tomato and parsley combo spooned over the top.
Buy the ingredients for this recipe...