Acqua pazza with hake, fennel and tomatoes
You can use any white fish for this colourful take on an Italian classic. It’s perfect for a sophisticated al fresco dinner party with friends.
Ingredients
- 2 hake fillets (about 150g/5½oz each), skin on and pin boned
- 1 fennel bulb, cut into 8 equal-sized pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 10 tiger cherry tomatoes
- 6 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 6 clams, scrubbed and debearded
- 150ml/5fl oz white wine
- 10 datterini tomatoes
- small handful fresh flatleaf parsley
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- grilled sourdough rubbed with garlic and olive oil, to serve
Method
In a large frying pan add a splash of olive oil over medium/high heat. Pan-fry the fish until cooked 80% of the way. Remove the fish from the pan and set aside. Add the fennel pieces to the same pan and fry until both sides have a nice colour and it’s partially cooked. This will take 2–4 minutes.
Add the garlic and chilli and fry for 1 minute or so until fragrant, then add the cherry tomatoes and give it all a quick stir-fry over a high heat.
Discard any mussels with broken shells and any that refuse to close when tapped. Add the mussels and clams to the pan, along with the white wine.
Steam the mix until the clams and mussels begin to open. Discard any mussels and clams that remain closed. Throw in the datterini tomatoes and parsley. Add the olive oil to help emulsify the sauce.
Plate the cooked fish, then spoon over the sauce, shells and all. Serve with a slice of grilled bread rubbed with garlic.