It’s Good Friday today and traditionally in our household, and no doubt many others, we eat fish. Unfortunately, lots of people I know get put off fish by the prospect of fiddling about with bones. This is where monkfish comes into its own. The gigot (or tail) of monkfish only has a large central bone which makes serving easy! But this is a dish that keeps on giving, because there is no last minute frying or poaching- it bakes in the oven.
Monkfish has a dense, white meaty flesh, and in this recipe it is spiked with anchovies to season (please don’t be put off if you aren’t sure about them, the anchovies melt into the monkfish), then marinated in lemon and olive oil, and nestled on a bed of Rosemary so that it is perfumed with its flavour as it bakes. The warm tomato vinaigrette that is poured over just before serving is the perfect sauce and also goes well with whatever green vegetable you serve with it. Today we had it with asparagus as it is growing like mad in the garden right now.
This is a real winner of a recipe for anytime, not just Good Friday, as it is a bit unusual so is great for entertaining as well. It serves 6.
Ingredients
- 1kg tail of monkfish
- tin of anchovy fillets
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- juice of a lemon
- a large bunch of fresh Rosemary
- pepper
- For Tomato Vinaigrette
- 10 tbsp olive oil
- 3tbsp white wine vinegar
- pinch of sugar
- salt and pepper
- 250g deseeded, chopped vine tomatoes
Method
- With a sharp knife make slits in the flesh of the monkfish and put in pieces of anchovy
- Take a roasting tin that singly fits the monkfish and cover the bottom with the branches of Rosemary. Place monkfish on top
- Pour over the olive oil (and oil from anchovy tin) and lemon juice. Grind over pepper. Leave to infuse for at least 2 hours
- Heat your oven to 180c or 160c fan
- Place fish in the preheated oven for 40-45 mins
- To make vinegrette place all the ingredients in a small pan and warm through
- Put fish on a serving dish and pour over warm vinaigrette. Serve with a green vegetable such as asparagus, beans or mangetout. If you prefer serve with salad