Fish with Fennel Fern and Seeded Mustard
A fast fish recipe that leaves the stovetop clear and doubles as a dressing for a fresh salad or new potatoes. Easily adapted — add capers, or swap in chervil or parsley, dijon or chutney for the seeded mustard — for an endless range of options.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
- 700–800g white fish fillets
- Salt and pepper
- 1½–2 lemons, juiced
- 1 heaped tablespoon wholegrain mustard (I like the Pams one best)
- 2–3 tablespoons roughly chopped fennel fern
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- Foil, or a large roaster with a lid
- Green leaves and cooked new potatoes, to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 210°C.
- Brush a deep roasting pan with olive oil and lay the fish fillets out in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix the lemon juice, mustard, fennel fern, salt, sugar and white pepper. Drizzle liberally over the fish, keeping some aside to use over a salad or new potatoes.
- Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes (check after 7 if your pan is stainless or enamel like the one pictured; cast iron takes about double, as it's slower to heat through). It's done when a knife pressed into a piece of fish shows it very nearly cooked. Remove from the oven and leave the foil on for 5 minutes while you set the table — it finishes in the residual heat.
Makes: enough for each person to have 200g of fresh fish.
Notes
I tested this with three commonly available NZ white fish: Ling (oval dish) took 10 minutes plus 5 resting; Gurnard (green tray) and Tarakihi (pictured) both took 7 minutes plus resting. The resting gives you a little wriggle room — just look for fillets of a similar size. With the Ling, I folded the thin tail under to match the width of the fatter section.
The Pairing
Delicate white fish with lemon and mustard wants a crisp, aromatic white. Browse the Pinot Gris + Riesling collection.