Crunchy fish cups
This clever kitchen hack uses slices of bread to make crunchy shells. Fill them high with crispy, breadcrumbed fish fillets and a juicy tomato and pepper salsa.
For this recipe you will need a muffin tin and a stick blender.
Ingredients
For the tomato and pepper salsa
- 1 large fresh vine tomato, finely chopped
- ½ yellow pepper, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 3 heaped tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander, plus extra to serve
For the taco shells
- 6 thick slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
For the fish
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 large free-range egg
- 30g/1oz jumbo porridge oats
- 40²µ/1½´Ç³ú ground almonds
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1–2 tbsp plain flour
- 150g/5½oz skin-on white fish fillets, such as pollock or gurnard, cut into 12 thin strips
- 2–3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Little Gem lettuce, leaves thickly shredded
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- lime or lemon wedges, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Mix all the salsa ingredients in a bowl with a good pinch of flaked sea salt and some black pepper and set aside.
Put the slices of bread on a board and flatten with a rolling pin until very thin. Use a plain biscuit cutter to cut out six 10cm/4in rounds and oil generously. Turn a six-hole muffin tin upside down and place on a baking tray. Brush each of the upturned holes with a little oil and press the bread rounds on top to make shallow cups. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until crisp and pale golden-brown.
Meanwhile, mix the mustard with the egg together in a small bowl. Put the oats into a jug with the almonds, sesame seeds, a good pinch of salt and some ground black pepper. Blitz with a stick blender to make a rough crumb, then shake onto a plate. Sprinkle the flour into a shallow bowl.
Dip the fish fillets, one at a time, in the flour, then the egg mixture and finally coat on all sides with the nutty oats.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the fish for about 3 minutes on each side, or until crisp, golden-brown and cooked through. Add a little more oil to the pan whilst cooking if needed.
Arrange the bread shells on two plates and add the shredded lettuce. Top with the salsa and fried fish pieces. Garnish with the extra coriander and serve with lemon or lime wedges for squeezing over.
