The jury seems to be out on whether we eat enough or too much fish on a daily basis. Some maintain the fish stocks are currently running out (and aquaculture is not helping in the slightest), while other believe we are consuming too much meat and that fish is a sustainable source of food. Whomever side you might be on, you surely cannot deny fish plays a very important role in summery dish. Personally, I love fish. I would eat it all year round, were it not for the price. And I do try as much as I can, mostly because it is good for you (and I’m not saying this just for the sake of saying it) and because, let’s face it, it tastes amazing.
This dish manages to combine vegetables and fish in a very peculiar and still tasty way. The peppers are slightly roasted with some olive oil, then stuffed with seamince (yes, that’s not a word, I know) and covered in crunchy breadcrumbs. The stuffing is both delicate and ‘meaty’ at the same time, which makes it a perfect main. It can also be eaten cold. The recipe comes from the July issue of La Cucina Italiana.
Ingredients
- 2 red peppers
- 2 yellow peppers
- 250g cleaned squid
- 200g seabass fillet, deskinned and deboned – any other ‘white meat’ fish would also do
- 300g crayfish
- 150g rustic bread, sliced
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 50ml white wine
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Method
- Slice the peppers in half, remove the green top, the white membranes inside and the seeds. Lay them empty side up on a lined baking tray, drizzle some olive oil on top, season with salt and pepper. Roast at 200C for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the side.
- In the meantime, finely chop the garlic clove and the onion, then tumble in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and fry over medium/high for 3 minutes, until golden. Add the seabass fillets, squid and crayfish and cook for 3 minutes, until slightly firmer.
- Add the white wine and let it bubble away, then turn the heat down to medium/low and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Cut the bread slices into small cubes, then tumble those in the pan too and cook for another 2 minutes. Season with pepper.
- Remove from the heat, transfer to the bowl of a food processor and whiz until smooth.
- Use the stuffing to fill the peppers and ensure you use all of it by pressing it down inside the pepper cavities. Scatter the breadcrumbs on top, then drizzle some olive oil and roast for 20 minutes (still at 200C). Remove from the oven, decorate with the finely sliced spring onions and serve.
Baking with Attitude 