Another incredibly quick and simple dish, today's number was all the better for pushing out a few flavours beyond the usual comfort zone.
This is a very simple but hugely garlic-orientated dish. If you don't like garlic, you should probably step away quietly now. If I could say I had an alternative, I would, but really I don't. It's also a 100% pescatarian dish and that's not going to change any time soon.
This recipe is for two adult diners. You do the math if you need it otherwise.
Shopping list
For the pesto
200g sundried tomatoes
50g sunflower seeds, shelled
20ml extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
For the dish
1 small, filleted responsibly sourced sea bass per diner
1 tin (approx. 85g) of smoked mussels per 2 diners
4 cloves of fresh garlic
Approx. 150g dried tagliatelle di seppia per diner (if you don't have the black stuff, normal tagliatelle or other long "ribbon" pasta works just as well)
Approx. 250g small tomatoes of at least 3 different kinds; cherry tomatoes; Pomodorino plum tomatoes, etc. Yes, I know this sounds arsey, but it really does make a real taste difference
Extra virgin olive oil
For the salad
Approx. 70g rocket (arugula)
1 medium ripe avocado
Approx. ½ a cucumber
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
fresh lemon juice
Cooking method
pesto
Make the pesto first. You can even do this days before and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Otherwise assume you're making it at the same time as per the recipe below.
Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor (or do it by hand if you're seriously "old school") and blend until smooth-ish. Decant and allow to return to room temperature
Using a little spatula or a knife, coat both sides of the sea bass with the pesto and return it to the fridge in a covered dish in order that the flavours sink in. You can do this the day before and keep covered in the fridge overnight for the best results, but make sure you do it at least and hour before starting the main thrust of the dish
The dish
Place all of the small tomatoes in a baking tray or oven-proof dish so that they fit closely together. Push 3 or 4 peeled cloves of garlic between them. Coat with extra virgin olive oil with a pastry brush or clean fingers and oven-bake on a high temperature. Turn regularly so that all sides of the tomatoes bake evenly. It should take about 20 mins (quicker in a fan-assisted or halogen oven) until they are fully cooked with, perhaps, a little blackening here and there. Move on to the next stages only when the tomatoes are fully cooked
Into a frying pan, pour a little extra virgin olive oil and a finely sliced (not crushed) clove of garlic. Pour all of the juices and the roasted garlic from the roasting dish (but not the tomatoes!) into the frying pan and allow to sizzle
When the oil and ingredients are sizzling, place the sea bass in the pan, first cooking the side with the skin, then the other. This will only take a couple of minutes each side. Turn off the heat the minute the fish is nearly done. Cover the pan to keep warm
Boil a pot of salted water in which to cook the pasta. Once boiling furiously, add the tagliatelle. It should take about 10 to 12 mins to cook perfectly (see here for more specific guidance on pasta cooking times)
While the pasta is cooking, create your simple salad of rocket, finely sliced cucumber and cubed avocado. Dress with the balsamico, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice at the table
Using your impeccable timing, a few minutes before the pasta is ready, turn up the heat on the frying pan in which you cooked the fish. Add the roasted tomatoes and the drained smoked mussels to the frying pan and heat them all without breaking up the fish or mussels, nor over-stirring
Drain the pasta and return to the pot, stirring in the pesto. Add the contents of the pan: the sea bass (flaking it away from the skin, which you can discard, into large pieces); smoked mussels; roasted tomatoes etc. Plate carefully and serve. Parmigiano or Grana Padano are naturally suited finishing touches (though in some parts of Italy, adding cheese to fish dishes is heavily frowned up), grated over the top. Enjoy.
Pairings
Okay, so I was in a feel-good mood today because of the UK bank holiday and also because I thought it was nice that my local supermarket in London is supporting the social enterprise agenda of the Stormhoek winery in South Africa.
Sure, the minute I poured the first glass of this limited edition rosé moscato, I could practically feel Karel slapping me around the side of the head. It's not really my usual thing (and almost certainly not his). It's practically a boozy soda pop with a rosy fizz that once might have made endless cohorts of bubbly girls happy in London on a Friday night out when those kind of things still happened.
Yet, combined with the brutality of the garlic in this dish and the smoked mussels, I actually came to the conclusion that it really works as a cheap-n-cheerful plonk option, all the better for contributing to a good cause.
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But Karel says...
News just in, dear oenologists: you can now savour Karel's definitive wine pairing for this dish. He's even included a fizzy number. Find it here.
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