Roast hake in garlic butter with French beans

Cooking this dish is really simple, the key point being to hold the skin side down in the pan when you place it, to prevent it curling

Roast hake in garlic butter with French beans. Photograph: Harry Weir Photography
Serves: 2
Course: Lunch, Dinner
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Prep Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 cleaned portions of hake, appox 160g each, skin on
  • Sea salt
  • 90g butter
  • 200g french beans
  • 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • Zest and juice of half a lemon
  • Handful fresh parsley, chopped
  1. Heat a small pan and add the oil. Season the hake with sea salt, then place the hake skin side down in the pan, applying a little pressure to the fish with a tongs or spatula for a half a minute to keep the fish flat and prevent it from curling slightly. Cook on a medium heat for 3 minutes until browned, then turn the fish and lower the heat.
  2. Add the butter to the pan. When the butter has melted, add the slices of garlic, allowing them to slowly caramelise in the butter, stirring and turning them regularly. Cook on a low heat for 7-8 minutes until the fish is cooked through, then remove the pan from the heat.
  3. While the fish is cooking, add freshly boiled water to a pot and heat. Season with salt and add the French beans. Blanch in the boiling water for 2 minutes, then strain and set aside. Add the French beans to a bowl, and spoon in some of the butter and golden-brown garlic slices from the pan. Toss the beans in the butter and garlic, then garnish with lemon zest.
  4. To finish the hake, squeeze the juice of a lemon into the pan and add the chopped parsley, then baste the hake well in the butter, parsley, lemon juice and garlic. Check the seasoning before serving with the green beans.