Fish
Provençal baked mackerel
The Mediterranean diet is supposedly one of the healthiest in the world. Luckily, it's also one of the tastiest! This colourful representation is a real treat - try with a glass of rosé for that South of France holiday feeling.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp capers
- 2 mackerel
- oil for roasting
- 1 courgette
- 1 romano pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 rosemary stalk
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 60g black olives
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 100ml white wine
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper
- 150g white basmati rice
- 1 pinch saffron
- 15g parsley
Method
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Step 1
Put the capers in a mug of cold water. Leave to soak. Preheat your oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Rinse the mackerel, particularly inside the cavities, then pat dry with kitchen paper.
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Step 2
Brush a large roasting tin (a non-stick one is ideal) with oil. Cut 3 shallow slashes down one side of each mackerel (approx. 1cm deep). Lay them slash-side up in the tin.
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Step 3
Slice the courgette into 2-3cm chunks. Deseed and slice the pepper into similar sized pieces.
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Step 4
Peel and finely chop the garlic. Finely chop ½ tbsp worth of rosemary leaves.
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Step 5
Spread the courgette, pepper, tomatoes, garlic and olives around each mackerel. Drain and scatter over the capers. Scatter over the rosemary and oregano. Pour over the wine and drizzle with a little oil. Squeeze a little lemon juice (approx. 1 tsp) over each mackerel. Season.
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Step 6
Bake for 20-25 mins., until the mackerel is cooked through (it will feel firm to the touch).
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Step 7
Meanwhile, boil a kettle. Rinse the rice in a sieve. Transfer to a saucepan. Add the saffron and a pinch of salt. Cover with 500ml boiled water. Cook on a low boil for 10 mins, then remove from the heat, cover with a lid or plate and leave the rice to steam for a further 10 mins.
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Step 8
Roughly chop the parsley leaves.
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Step 9
Check the rice is tender (drain off any excess liquid) and the mackerel is cooked through. Serve the mackerel and veg with the rice, sprinkled with parsley.