5th July 2008 Pan-fried Sea Bass with Artichokes & Broad Beans

Pan-fried Sea Bass with Artichokes & Broad Beans

This dish reminds us of the sun blushed shores of the Mediterranean

Serves 4

Ingredients
  • For the fish:
  • 2 Sea Bass fillets (line caught)
  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  • Flakey Sea Salt
  • For the artichoke & Broad Bean Salad:
  • 4 whole cooked Artichoke hearts
  • 175g Broad beans, cooked and peeled
  • 1 Arabica Preserved LemonBuy online
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 teaspoon Arabica Wild SumacBuy online
  • 40g olive oil
  • 10g fresh dill
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Method

To prepare the salad:

Firstly trim the bases of the artichoke hearts slightly just enough that they sit on your plate without rolling around. Cut the preserved lemon into quarters, remove the flesh with a sharp paring knife and discard and then finely julienne the zest of the preserved lemon into very thin diagonal strips. Remove the green tops of the spring onions, discard the white parts. Finely slice the green tops of the spring onions with a very sharp knife so you end up with lots of tiny discs. Gently mix the preserved lemons, green broad beans, spring onions and wild Sumac taking care not to smash the delicate legumes. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season.

Cooking the Sea Bass:

Wash and pat dry the Sea Bass fillets and portion them in to 4 pieces. Sprinkle the skin of the fish with a pinch of sea salt. Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil and once nice and hot add the fish skin side down and cook for 2 mins until the skin becomes crispy then turn the fillets over and cook for a further minute.

Assembly

I like to serve this dish in large bowls. Brush the side of the bowl with some of the oil from the salad and flick sumac around to dust the edges. Place one artichoke heart in the centre of each plate and spoon in the dressed broad beans until they begin to overflow. Place a piece of Sea Bass on the top of each overflowing artichoke heart and garnish with dill.