Get Premium access to all the latest content online
Subscribe and view full print editions online... Subscribe
Whole roasted mackerel with sorrel yoghurt and new potatoes with fennel pollen
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 6 mackerel, gutted
- 6 slices of lemon, cut into 12 half moons
- 12 bay leaves
- olive oil, to drizzle
For the sorrel yoghurt
- 1 small garlic clove
- small handful sorrel leaves, roughly chopped
- 200g Greek yoghurt
- 3tbsp olive oil
- squeeze of lemon juice
For the new potatoes
- 700g salad potatoes, such as anya, Jersey royals or small yukon gold, scrubbed
- 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 25g butter
- 1tsp sea salt (try smoked sea salt)
- 1⁄2tbsp ground black pepper
- 1tbsp fennel pollen
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ Gas 6. Season the fish on the inside and outer sides and place in an ovenproof dish. Using a knife, make 2 incisions into the top of each fish, in diagonal parallel lines, then stuff a lemon half moon and a bay leaf into each incision. Drizzle with plenty of oil and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through; the flesh should be white and opaque.
Meanwhile, make the sorrel yoghurt. Put the garlic, sorrel and a little salt into a pestle and mortar and crush to a paste. In a bowl, mix the yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice with some salt and pepper then stir in the sorrel and garlic paste. Taste and adjust the seasoning and lemon juice to suit.
Serve the fish on a platter with the yoghurt alongside – tell your guests to check for bones.
New potatoes with fennel pollen
Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water for 12-15 minutes, or until just tender when prodded with a fork, then drain.
Crush the potatoes slightly with a fork, then stir in the oil, butter, salt and pepper. Scatter over the fennel pollen and stir again.
Advertisement