Packed with plenty of flavour, this is a bit more fancy that what I usually cook, but it is a great meal for mid-week entertaining. Make the eggplant puree in advance and reheat just prior to serving.
A steamed green vegetable or simple salad of mixed leaves on the side is all that is needed to complete the meal.
I don’t often purchase prepared condiments, but when I tasted
Aromatics Mushroom & Thyme Tapenade it was a must have and here I have used it to add an extra punch of flavour.
Spice Crusted Fish with Eggplant Puree & Tapenade
Here I used small monkfish fillets, but any firm white fish fillets work well – choose what looks best on the day.
Serves 4
2 large aubergines
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp natural yogurt
olive oil
1 tsp grated lemon zest
lemon juice
4 x 150g firm white fish fillets, skin removed
prepared tapenade
chopped parsley
1 Preheat oven to 200°C. Piece eggplants several times with a fork. Place eggplant on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes or
until very soft. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
2 Meanwhile, combine cumin, coriander and turmeric with a good grind of salt and black pepper. Set aside.
3 When eggplant are cool enough to handle, remove skin and discard, chop flesh, place in a colander and drain for at least 30 minutes.
4 Puree eggplant flesh, 1 tbsp spice mixture 2 tbsp oil, yogurt, lemon zest and lemon juice to taste using a hand blender, food
processor or blender. Season with additional lemon juice, salt or black pepper, if necessary. Set aside.
5 Place remaining spice mixture in a plastic bag, add fish and shake to coat with spice mixture. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add a good splash of oil, then add fish and cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until fish flakes when tested with a fork.
6 To serve, reheat eggplant puree in saucepan over a low heat or in the microwave. Smear a large spoonful of puree on each plate, top with fish fillets and a dollop of tapenade and finally scatter with a little chopped parsley.
Where did the ingredients for this dish come from:
Fish: Tangaroa Seafoods – Napier; Eggplants, lemons: Krismaw Gardens – Hastings; Yogurt: Origin Earth – Havelock North; Parsley: Epicurean Supplies – Hastings; Olive oil: The Village Press – Hastings; Tapenade: Aromatics – Hastings; Store Cupboard Ingredients: cumin, coriander, turmeric sea salt, black pepper.
Note: Many of these producers can be found at the Napier Urban Food Market each Saturday morning and/or at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’
Market each Sunday morning.
Happy cooking and eating.
Recipe by Rachel Blackmore
Would you like to receive more great recipes and news from Rachel’s Kitchen NZ?
Subscribe to Rachel’s Kitchen NZ for daily updates via email. Just enter your email address and press ‘Subscribe’.
[email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Public”]
Ticks all my boxes Rachel. Jumped over to read the recipe as soon as I saw “spice crusted” in the title!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats recently posted…Spicy Little Muffin Tin Chicken Tostadas
This looks like a great way to serve fish, the aubergine puree, is full of wonderful flavours, delicious! GG
Glamorous Glutton recently posted…Wednesday Words – Magic Soup by Nicole Pisani And Kate Adams
There’s so much flavour in your eggplant puree and those flavours would blend perfectly with the fish xx
Hotly Spiced recently posted…Champagne Bay, Santo, Vanuatu
I’m loving the look of that fish Rachel! All those spices would make it so tasty 😀
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella recently posted…A Beautiful Day For Passata Day!
Reading this at dinner oclock is torturous. Want, I want this in my belly. The Mushroom & Thyme Tapenade sounds delicious, will have to whip up this feed stat. 🙂
Anna @ shenANNAgans recently posted…Meet Clayton from ‘Without Borders’ or ‘Chefs Run Wild’
Oh yum. Mushrooms and thyme are a match made in heaven 🙂
Tandy | Lavender and Lime recently posted…Recipe For Peanut Butter Cookies
That is very fancy for midweek entertaining for sure but I love all those flavours together.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted…Chocolate Tart
This dish looks so tasty, definitely going to have to make it for dinner one of these days!
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl recently posted…Protein Monday: Quick and Easy Refried Black Beans (from a can!)