Pan Fried Sea Bass with Ratatouille and Basil

17 May 2019 Main Course Recipes 1,073 Views

By Jed Tejada, The Cliff Hotel, Gorleston
www.thecliffhotel.co.uk

Serves Four

INGREDIENTS

For the Basil Oil
60ml of olive oil
2 large handfuls of basil, roughly chopped

For the Sea Bass
1 sea bass fillet
juice of half a lemon

For the Ratatouille
1 red pepper
¹/₂ an aubergine

1 courgette
10 cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¹/₂ tsp of ground cumin
2tbsp of olive oil
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper
basil oil

METHOD
Method for the Basil Oil
Bring to the boil a large pan of water. Blanch one handful of the basil. Remove and plunge into ice cold water to cool. Drain the excess fluid, add to a blender and combine with the olive oil until a ‘pourable’ consistency is formed

Method for the Ratatouille
Slice the pepper into thin strips, halve the tomatoes, the courgette into cubes, and aubergine into disks then cubes. Heat the oil, add the garlic and cumin and cook for 45 seconds to a minute. Add the vegetables and season. Sweat in the pan for a couple of minutes, then add 100ml of water and cook for a further four minutes

For the Sea Bass
Scour the fish and season the skin. Heat the oil in a pan, add the fish, skin side down and cook until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip the fish, squeeze the lemon juice over and cook for a further two to three minutes. Remove from the pan and plate up. Use the remaining basil as a garnish on top of the fish

Recipe published in Feast Issue 26