Hake, watercress and fennel
A simple but delicious hake recipe that makes the best of Filippo Berio's Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Cooking ingredients conft is a great way to add depth of flavour. By using extra virgin olive oil we get the beautiful peppery and fruity notes of the oil with the hake without overpowering the delicate flavour of the fish. Partnered with a lovely (and super versatile) watercress sauce, this makes a pretty special dinner that’s a lot easier than it looks.
Inspired by Jack's Italian adventure with Filippo Berio that you can check out here.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
2 x hake fillets, de-boned (you could use any white fish if you can’t find hake)
400ml Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
100g watercress
2 x medium potatoes, peeled
1stp English mustard
2 x fennel bulbs
Juice of ½ a lemon
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
METHOD
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add a generous pinch of salt. Blanche the watercress for 1 minute and plunge into a bowl of icy-cold water to stop it cooking and to keep the beautiful green colour.
In the same water boil the potatoes until soft. In a high-speed blender combine the watercress, potatoes, 30ml extra virgin olive oil, mustard and a dash of water and combine. Keep adding water until you get a pouring consistency, season with a squeeze of lemon, a dash of vinegar and lots of salt and pepper.
To confit the hake cover the fillets in the oil in an oven dish and place in the oven at 60C or as low as it goes for 20 – 40 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. Keep an eye out, and when the fish begins to flake remove the dish from the oven and allow the oil to cool slightly.
Half the fennel bulbs and sauté in oil on a medium heat until soft, season with a squeeze of lemon, a dash of vinegar and salt and pepper.
To plate, heat through the watercress sauce and pour onto the middle of the plate, top with the fennel and the confit hake and a few watercress leaves. Drizzle over a tsp of oil just before serving.
