3 baby fennel finely sliced, save the fronds to garnish the dish
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 shallot, peeled and finely sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely sliced
1 bay leaf
½tsp sweet paprika
5 white peppercorns
50ml sherry vinegar small pinch saffron
15ml honey
4 red mullet fillets (about 50g each), pin boned and scaled
For the lentils
100g Puy or small green lentils peel of ½ lemon, pith removed good handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
15ml extra virgin olive oil zest from ½ a lemon
Method
Prepare the lentils. Put the lentils and lemon peel in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Once cooked, drain the lentils into a colander and allow tocool. Discard the peel.
Meanwhile, to make the escabeche heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat, and add the fennel, carrot, shallot and garlic. Cook gently while stirring until the onion and carrots start to soften. Add the bay leaf, paprika, peppercorns, vinegar, saffron, honey and 150ml water then bring to the boil. Turn down to a gentle simmer and season with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt.
Heat a small glug of olive oil in a non-stick pan over a mediumhigh heat. Season the red mullet fillets, then fry skin side down until cooked halfway through. Remove the fillets from the pan and arrange in a single layer, skin side up, in a glass or ceramic dish. Pour the hot escabeche marinade over the fish and leave at room temperature to cool. The residual heat will finish cooking the fish.
Mix the cooked lentils with the chopped parsley, olive oil, lemon zest and a sprinkling of salt and spoon onto a flat serving dish.
Spoon over the escabeche vegetables and some of the juices, then arrange the red mullet fillets on top. Serve at room temperature garnished with the reserved fennel fronds.
Recipes and Photographs taken from Old Favourites New Twists by James Tanner, photography by Anders Schonnemann (Kyle Books £15.99).
