simons-sauces

Sea Bream with 
a Sauce Vierge , fennel and asparagus

This dish I adapted from one of Rick Stein’s recipes , stunning and delicious , great for any occasion , and packed full of Mediterranean flavours.

Serves 4
Ingredients

olive oil
1 x 750g sea bream or dorado scaled gutted and cleaned
200g cooked unpeeled prawns

8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 baby fennel bulbs finely sliced lengthways
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 thin spring onions, trimmed, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
250g asparagus carefully sliced in half lengthways

150g fresh garden peas
½ medium-hot red chilli, deseeded, thinly sliced
6 mint leaves, finely shredded
Hand full basil finely sliced

Method
1, Lightly grease a baking tray with olive oil . Preheat grill to high. . Cook in a pan of boiling, lightly salted water the slices of fennel, asparagus and peas for 1½ minutes or until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain well on kitchen paper.
2, Brush fish on both sides with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.Place on prepared tray. Cook under grill for 10 minutes, turning halfway during cooking
3, Meanwhile, place oil, lemon juice, tomatoes, spring onions, garlic, peas,chilli, ½ tsp salt and 10 turns of the black pepper mill into a small saucepan, warm up on a low temperature but don’t cook!!
4, now for the tricky bit !! Transfer fish to a chopping board. Using a small, sharp knife, cut through the skin all around the outside edge of the fish, across the base of the tail and behind the gills, and pull away.
Run knife down the length of the fish between the two top fillets, and ease them apart and away from the underlying bones.
Slide a palette knife under each of the fillets in turn and carefully lift them away. Set fillets aside on a warmed plate.
Lift up the backbone of the fish by the tail and carefully ease it away from the bottom fillets, taking the head with it. Discard.
Slice down the centre of the bottom fillets and clean away any bones and skin from the outside edges.
Lift the bottom fillets away from the skin and add them to the plate.

5, To plate up .Add fennel and prawns to sauce vierge and cook further over low heat for 1 minute. Remove fennel and overlap 2 pieces in the centre of each serving plate, then scatter asparagus randomly over fennel. Place one fish fillet on top. Stir mint and basil into remaining sauce. Spoon sauce with the prawns over the fish and fennel , serve direct

If you’re still nervous about trying this dish I can come and cook it for you !🍴🔪
For mor info don’t hesitate to mail or call:
simon.bingham@simons-sauces.com 0031 (0)642297107

Tags: fennel, sauce vierge, Sea bream