Mackerel with Red Pepper - Fennel Purée

The fishmonger had beautiful mackerel, and at a reasonable price too, so I bought a piece for dinner. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to serve it but, coincidentally, a friend forwarded me the inspiration recipe for mackerel with fennel and red pepper salad below which sounded like a good starting point, especially since I had both in my fridge. But, I wanted roasted potatoes so I adapted the flavors of the recipe below into a purée, which tasted great with both the fish and the potatoes.

1 piece fresh mackerel, lightly salted on all sides ( I bought a 12 oz piece and halved it)

1/2 small bulb of fennel, roughly chopped

1/2 large red pepper, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 spring onion, finely chopped

1 lemon

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil

Salt to taste and flaky salt for the fish

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the fennel, red pepper, garlic cloves and half the lemon on a baking tray. Drizzle with one tablespoon of the olive oil and salt lightly.

Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are mostly tender and the lemon is starting to caramelize and char.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick or cast iron pan over medium.

As soon as the oil is shimmering, add the spring onion and the mackerel, skin side down.

Cook on low heat for five minutes.

While the fish is cooking, place the fennel, red pepper, garlic cloves, the juice from the roasted lemon half and the fennel seeds in a blender and blend until very smooth. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Turn the fish over and cook for a further two to five minutes depending on the thickness of your fish until cooked through.

Mound some of the purée onto a plate and top with the fish. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon over the top and spoon on the now frizzled spring onion pieces.

Inspiration recipe, here.