Grillade of monkfish tail with roasted red pepper sauce and olive oil mash
A luxurious barbecue supper for two: grilled monkfish served with the Mediterranean flavours of roasted red peppers, saffron and olive oil.
Ingredients
For the roasted red pepper sauce
- 2 red peppers
- 300ml/10fl oz fish stock
- 40ml/1fl½ oz dry white wine
- pinch saffron
- pinch dried chilli flakes
- 85ml/3fl oz olive oil
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the olive oil mash
- 600g/1lb 5oz floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- olive oil, for brushing
For the fish
To serve
- salad leaves
- olive oil and lemon juice
Method
Heat the barbecue about 40 minutes before you need it so it gets nice and hot.
To make the sauce, put the peppers on the grill until blistered and charred all over. Remove from the grill and leave to cool. Peel the skins, remove the seeds and finely chop the flesh. Set aside.
Meanwhile, put 250ml/9fl oz of the fish stock in a pan with the wine, saffron and chilli flakes and simmer until reduced by three-quarters. Set aside.
To make the mash, boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 minutes, until very tender. Drain well and place in a wide mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and the remaining 50ml/2fl oz fish stock, season with salt and pepper and mash until smooth (I use an electric whisk). Cover to keep warm.
Brush the monkfish with olive oil, scatter over the thyme leaves and season with salt and pepper. Put the fish on the hot grill and cook for about 10 minutes, turning regularly, until done.
To finish the sauce, mix together the olive oil and sherry vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Put the pan of reduced fish stock back on the heat and bring to the boil. Whisk in the oil and vinegar and the butter (it will look split but don’t worry: it is a split sauce). Finally, add the peppers.
To serve, cut slices of the monkfish at an angle (or leave whole) and serve with the red pepper sauce, olive oil mash and some salad leaves dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.
