Recipe of the week: hake and soft tomatoes with chilli butter
The tomatoes turn into something special with the fish and the chilli butter
If you ate the tomatoes on their own, they’d make for an oddly elegant dinner, says Eleanor Steafel. But with the fish and the chilli butter, they turn into something really special. You can easily adjust the ingredients for the tomatoes to make a batch; leftovers can be blitzed for a sweet, fresh tomato sauce, or spread on bread with anchovies for pan con tomate.
Ingredients: serves one
For the tomatoes
- olive oil, for frying
- 290g plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1⁄2 tsp flaky salt, plus extra to season and finish
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- a splash of red wine vinegar
For the fish
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- a chunky hake steak, skin on
- 35g butter
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1⁄2 a small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- a pinch of smoked paprika
- thick slices of good bread
- a few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn
- a few big basil leaves
- flaky salt
- a lemon wedge, to serve (optional)
Method
- Heat a good glug of olive oil in a small frying pan or a casserole pan with a lid over a very low heat. If you can, pick a pan that is going to be able to fit the tomato wedges in a single, snug layer over the bottom. Arrange the tomato quarters in concentric circles. Sprinkle over the salt and garlic.
- Put the lid on and leave the tomatoes to cook for 30 mins – don’t move the pan too much, just leave the tomatoes to cook slowly, until they release lots of sweet juices and slump a little.
- Shake over a little vinegar, smash the tomatoes with the back of a spoon, replace the lid and cook for another 5 mins, so they return to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle the hake with salt. Set a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil and, when hot, fry the fish, skin-side down for 3 mins until the skin crisps and the flesh starts to cook. Then, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the fish to the tomatoes, lowering it into the pan so the skin stays above the liquid and the flesh can continue cooking in the simmering juices. Cook for 3 mins, until the fish is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan with the sliced garlic, the chopped chilli and the paprika, plus a pinch of salt. Let it foam up and cook for a minute, swirling the pan as it does. Set the flavoured butter aside in the pan.
- Toast the bread (either in a toaster or on a griddle pan), then drizzle it with oil and sprinkle it with flaky salt.
- Finish the tomatoes and fish with the chilli butter and herbs. Serve with a wedge of lemon, if you wish.
Recipe from The Art of Friday Night Dinner by Eleanor Steafel, published by Bloomsbury at £26. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
Sign up for the Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Nigeria's worsening rate of maternal mortality
Under the radar Economic crisis is making hospitals unaffordable, with women increasingly not receiving the care they need
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plant
Speed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
6 serene homes in Vermont
Features Featuring a four-level Shaker barn in Hartland and a Scandinavian-inspired home in Stowe
By The Week US Published
-
Amanda Montell's 6 favorite books that will expand your knowledge
Feature The linguist recommends works by Mary Roach, Alice Carrière, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rowan Beaird recommends 6 compelling books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 spacious homes with great rec rooms
Feature Featuring a suspended fireplace in Arizona and a marine-themed home in Maine
By The Week Published
-
Recipe: gnocchi di spinaci (spinach gnocchi)
The Week Recommends Forget the potatoes for this gnocchi made of the 'classic combination' of spinach and ricotta
By The Week UK Published
-
Stephen Graham Jones' 6 scary books with deeper meanings
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Sara Gran, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes on the top floor
Feature Featuring a 1925 art deco high-rise in San Francisco and a factory-turned-home in Los Angeles
By The Week US Published
-
The Anxious Generation: US psychologist Jonathan Haidt's 'urgent and essential' new book
The Week Recommends Haidt calls out 'the Great Rewiring of Childhood' phenomenon
By The Week UK Published