Hake with coriander pesto and chargrilled tomatoes

Not yet rated

Have you tried this firm, sweet and delicious member of the cod family? Monica Shaw's easy to make hake recipe, paired with sweet, chargrilled Piccolo tomatoes and a glorious coriander pesto.

First published in 2015
discover more:

Hake is a firm, sweet white fish and a member of the cod family. It’s also readily found off the coast of our fine British seashores making it an appropriate choice for the occasion.

This week, the particular fillets I was working with were caught in Cornwall. I picked them up from my fishmonger, Ben, at New Wave Fish Shop in Cirencester, who also offered some suggestions on how to cook it. Ben explained that hake is a moister fish so it’s useful to flour it before pan-frying. I could achieve a crispy skin effect by flouring the skin, pan-frying it skin-side down, then finishing in the oven. So that’s what I went for.

It was a perfect foil for lemony coriander pesto, augmented with a few beautiful chargrilled Piccolo tomatoes (as a bonus you could add some roasted red peppers, too). I served the hake on top of lentils, but you could also do boiled potatoes or a grain such as pearl barley to make this more of a complete meal.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Coriander pesto

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
2
Make the pesto by putting everything in a food processor with a pinch of salt and blitzing to a purée
3
Preheat up your grill or outdoor BBQ. Season the fish with salt and pepper, then cover lightly with flour
4
Heat up an oven-safe frying pan on medium-high heat. Add a glug of olive oil and then the fish fillets
5
Leave to fry for 4 minutes then transfer to the oven for another 4 minutes (or until the fish is done - cooking time will depend on the thickness of your fish)
6
While the fish is cooking, grill the tomatoes for just a few minutes, until they start to burst. Serve the fish skin side up with a dollop of pesto and the cherry tomatoes
First published in 2015
DISCOVER MORE:

Monica Shaw's mission is to enable people to feel awesome, through food, life, work and play.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.

You may also like

Load more