Chef Series: Nuno Mendes’ Piri-Piri Halibut
I don’t know about you, but the frequency with which fish enters my cooking rotation increases substantially whenever we hit the summer. The light, fresh taste accompanied with a summer salad or sauce is ideal for the mild evenings in the garden, and this week’s Chef Series is a perfect example.
Nuno Mendes, owner of Lisboeta and previously of Michelin-star fame from El Bulli and the Town Hall Hotel, takes over this week with a delicious piri-piri halibut recipe, which is sweet, spicy and zesty in equal measure, and will immediately have you looking at flights to Lisbon.
Piri-Piri Halibut
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
serves 2-3
Ingredients
For the halibut
- 300g fresh halibut fillet
- 30ml olive oil
- salt to season
- 50g butter
For the broad beans
- 100g podded and blanched broad beans
- 30g caramelised onion
- 10g finely chopped garlic
- 50ml fish stock
- salt, pepper and paprika
For the piri-piri sauce
- 3 small white onions
- 2 large tomatoes
- 20ml olive oil
- 50g garlic cloves skin on
- 50g red chilli whole
- 10g maldon sea salt
- 1g white pepper
- 2g smoked paprika
- 20g brandy
- 20g sweet liquor
- 50g melted butter
- 25g lemon juice
To finish
- 10g chopped parsley
- 30g melted butter
- salt, pepper, paprika,
- lemon zest
Method
For the piri-piri sauce
- Preheat the oven to 220c
- Roll 2 of the onions and tomatoes in kitchen foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes until
- Once removed from the oven peel the onion and transfer to a sealed container with the tomatoes and leave them to steam on the side
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onions and saute until they caramelise, they should get a nice brown colour. Transfer the same container as before, keep it closed all the time.
- Place another pan on a high heat and add the chilli and garlic straight in , the idea here is to blacken the outside of the skins so the garlic is cooked through and the chillies are blistered, place these into the same container as previously and re cover
- Add all the rest of the ingredients except the fish stock into the container and blend using a powerful blender if possible but a hand blender if not – the sauce needs to be silky smooth without any lumps so don’t rush this step, and its important that all the veg in the previous steps are fully cooked through.
For the broad beans
- Heat fish stock and caramelised onions in a pan for 2 minutes
- Add the blanched broad beans and chopped garlic cook for a further 2 minutes and season with pinches of salt, pepper and paprika
For the halibut
- Halibut to be removed from the fridge 30 minutes before cook
- Brush the piri-piri sauce made over the fish to marinade and season with salt
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
- Heat a pan with a little oil and place the fish skin side down and cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin is golden brown
- Turn the fish over and add the butter to the pan, baste the fish as it melts and place the fish in the oven for 15- 20 minutes to check if its done the fish should flake when pressed with a fork
Assemble
- Heat the piri-piri sauce in a pan and add the fish stock to combine
- Add the broad beans in the middle of a large platter/ tray
- Pour the piri-piri sauce on the large silver platter around the beans (enough to cover the tray)
- Place the cooked halibut on top of the salad
- Drizzle the butter over the top of the sauce, and zest the lemon over the top
