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.
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.
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.
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