Dr Rupy’s Crispy Seabass with Mashed Peas
This healthy seabass recipe is packed with fibre-rich nutrients. It's the perfect dish for spring and puts seasonal peas to excellent use.
From the book
Dr Rupy Cooks: Healthy. Easy. Flavour
Over 100 easy and accessible flavour packed recipes
From healthy weekday dinners to nutritious one-pot dishes
Developed for maximum health benefit, accessibility and taste
Introduction
One of the first things I was taught to do before I left for medical school was to lightly coat a fillet of bass in seasoned flour, gently panfry it skin side down to make it crispy, flip, fry for a couple of minutes more, and then serve. It was like I knew a magic trick because it stunned all my student friends that I was able to expertly cook a delicate fish to restaurant standards. I’ve combined two fibre-rich ingredients with the peas and beans to make this a light but satiating meal that’s full of protein and easy to adapt.
Ingredients
| 2 | seabass fillets (about 300g) |
| 2 tbsp | rice flour |
| ½ tsp | cayenne pepper |
| 1 tsp | fennel seeds, roughly ground |
| 1 tsp | freshly ground black pepper |
| 3 tbsp | olive oil |
| 100g | rocket, roughly chopped |
| juice of 1 lemon | |
| For the peas: | |
| 200g | peas (fresh or frozen) |
| 1 x 400g can | butter beans, drained and rinsed |
| 2 tsp | miso paste |
| 1 | garlic clove, grated |
| 10g | tarragon leaves, chopped |
| 10g | mint leaves, chopped |
| black pepper |
Method
Pat the fish fillets dry with kitchen paper. Mix the flour with the spices and a pinch of salt on a plate and coat the fish in the flour mixture, dusting off any excess.
Place a frying pan over a medium heat, add the olive oil and gently place the fish skin-side down in the pan, lightly pressing the flesh to prevent the fillets from curling at the edges.
Cook for 5 minutes until the skin is crispy, then flip and cook for a further 1 minute on the other side. Leaving the pan on the heat, remove the fish from the pan and place on kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil.
Lower the heat. To the same pan, add the peas, butter beans, miso paste, garlic, some black pepper and a splash of hot water. Stir together, cover with a lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, then stir in the fresh herbs.
Using the back of a fork or a potato masher, roughly crush the peas and beans in the pan.
Plate the crushed peas and beans and top with the rocket leaves, tarragon and mint. Place the fish fillets on top and squeeze over some fresh lemon.
