Skip to main content

Fish couscous with the Levys

It has been a while since we made this dish but on Saturday night we wanted easy to make, comfort food that was warming but not full on 'winter hearty' 
I have made this recipe from the very beautifully typeset  'The Geometry of Pasta' before ... and blogged about it ... but I enjoyed it so much I was moved to write about it again.



The mantra of this book is that Pasta is a simple thing but getting it absolutely right depends as much on choosing the best pasta shape for the sauce as on cooking it properly. 
I got the fish from waitrose and used a combination of fairly delicate fish that break up nicely in the sauce (Sea Bass fillets, tilapia, sole and haddock)
To my mind the really clever and unusual part of this recipe is the parsley, almond and garlic paste that you add towards the end, it lifts the dish from the 'nice but mundane' to something altogether more exciting.
One other observation .. dont pour the stew over the cous cous before its served as it can go a bit gloopy.
Put the cous cous and stew in separate bowls and let your guests serve themselves. that way you keep the cous cous fluffy.

This will serve four hungry people easily



ingredients

500gms cous cous
700gms fish fillet
2 small onions, finely chopped
8-10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 small dried chili
2 bay leaf
1  bunch flat-leaf parsley
6 tablespoons blanched almonds
2 garlic clove
500ml light fish stock
11/2 tins chopped tomatoes


Method

Fry the onion in 6-7 of the oil with the chili and bay leaf over a medium heat until soft and golden – about 10 minutes.

Chop the parsley roughly, then pound to a paste with the almonds and garlic.

Bring the stock to a boil, pour exactly half over the couscous along with another 1 ½ tablespoons of oil and salt to taste, and leave, covered, while you finish making the fish stew.

Add the tomatoes to the onion and fry for a couple of minutes, add the rest of the fish stock then add the fish (seasoned with salt and pepper) and turn once or twice in the pan, just to coat.

(If you wanted to prepare this ahead I reckon that you could get the sauce to the stage of adding the fish stock and cooking it off for a bit and leave it there and just reheat before adding the fish)

Bring to a boil and stir in the pounded almonds, then simmer for a minute or 2 until the fish is just cooked. Taste for seasoning.

Fluff the couscous with a fork. Serve the fish stew spooned over a bed of couscous, with an optional extra drizzle of oil.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak