Crunchy Fish

Crunchy Fish

This is one fish I will make over and over again. It's got this awesome crunchy coating made from stale bread blitzed into crumbs along with olive oil, lemon zest, fresh thyme leaves and Parmesan cheese baked on top of any firm fish fillet. I used salmon and its delicious.

 Ingredients:

1 thick slice of wholemeal bread, (roughly 50g)

olive oil

1 lemon

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

freshly ground black pepper

2 x 120 g firm white fish or salmon fillets, scaled and pin-boned, from sustainable sources

Method:

1.      This recipe is incredibly versatile – use whichever fish you like (as long as its sustainable) and add any herbs to the crumb. A fine grating of Parmesan makes a nice addition, too. It doesn't matter if your bread is a bit stale, it'll still work fine. And, if you haven't got any bread you can use four smashed-up cream crackers instead.

2.      Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 5. Tear the bread into a food processor, add 2 tablespoons of oil and grate in the zest of half a lemon. Pick in the thyme leaves (throw away the stalks), then add a grinding of black pepper. Whizz the mixture until nice and fine.

3.      Place a non-stick ovenproof frying pan on a medium-high heat. While it's heating up, check that there aren't any stray bones lurking in the fish fillets, then rub them all over with a little oil. Place in the hot pan skin-side down. Squeeze some lemon juice over the top of each fillet, then pile most of the crumb on top, covering them evenly, then scatter the remaining crumb into the pan. Fry for 3 minutes (this will get the skin nice and crispy), then transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the crumb is golden and crunchy.

4.      Carefully remove the pan from the oven using oven gloves, then transfer the fish to your plates using a fish slice. Serve scattered with the extra super-crispy crumbs, and a jacket potato or wedges, and broccoli or peas on the side.