Fillet of red mullet with shaved summer salad
A bright summery dish for a lunch or light dinner
Recipe Meta
Prep
15 min
Cook
7 mins
Serves
2
Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 5-6 sorrel leaves
- 100g creme fraiche
- 2 golden beetroots
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 pink grapefruit
- 500g red mullet, filleted
- A knob of butter
Method
Start by making the dressing. Warm a small pan and add the fennel seeds. Heat until they start to jump around, then slide them into a pestle and mortar and crush them a little to release the oils.
Make a chiffonade of the sorrel: stack the leaves neatly on top of each other and roll them up lengthways, very tightly. Slice across the roll as thinly as you can, making delicate strips. Use an extremely sharp knife so as not to bruise the leaves.
Mix together the creme fraiche, sorrel and half the toasted seeds, along with 50ml water, then season well. Set aside.
Peel the beetroots and slice very thinly. Use a mandolin if you are feeling brave, or a very sharp knife if not. Place in a large bowl.
Trim the fronds from the fennel and set aside. Slice the bulb in half lengthways, cutting out the core if it seems a little tough. Cut across the fennel very thinly to make pretty little semi-circles. Add to the beetroot.
Segment the grapefruit by firstly paring away the thick skin and pith. Hold the fruit over the bowl containing the beetroot and fennel, and cut in between the pithy membranes, allowing the beautiful segments to escape into the bowl below. Squeeze out the left-behind pith. Toss in the fennel fronds and remaining toasted fennel seeds and set aside while you cook the mullet.
In a baking tray, rub a little oil on each fillet, season generously, then sprinkle with the remaining fennel seeds. Heat your grill to the highest setting – or indeed a barbecue if time permits – and cook the mullet skin-side up for around 6-7 mins. The heat of the baking tray will cook the flesh, so there is no need to turn it over. Add a knob of butter towards the end. If you are barbecuing, cook for around 3-4 mins each side.
Serve the fish on piles of salad, with a dollop of the flavoured creme fraiche.
Image: Lizzie Mayso
