Oven baked fish “al cartoccio”. Beer battered fish and chips. Wonderful ways to eat fish that I was brought up on. But I always wanted to try out something a little different. Something a bit more experimental. The freshness of the fish and fennel, complimented by the umami of the guanciale and truffle flavours seem to fit the bill. It may sound a bit more “chefy” (if that’s even a word!) but in reality it’s quite a simple process.

Serves: 4 (or 2 huge portions)
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes in total

Ingredients:

• 4 portions of sea bass, deboned but with skin on (ask your friendly fishmonger to fillet these for you (approximately 1.2 kg of fish)
• 200 g of guanciale cut into lardons
• truffle-infused oil
• 12 button mushrooms or 4 portobello mushrooms
• half a bulb of fresh fennel thinly sliced (top leaves lightly chopped and reserved for garnish)
• salt and pepper to taste
• sides of choice (such as roasted potatoes/grilled asparagus or stem broccoli)

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Method:

1. Add the guanciale to a cold, large non-stick skillet/frying pan. Cook slowly for around 10-15 minutes over a low heat until most of the fat has melted out of the lardons, turning occasionally.
2. Turn up the heat and fry the lardons in their own fat for about another minute until crispy. Transfer the lardons from the pan onto some paper towel and allow to dry off and crispen up. Reserve later for garnish.
3. Add your mushrooms to the same pan and fry in the guanciale fat over a medium-high heat until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper while cooking. When ready, transfer to a plate and put to the side.
4. Season your fish fillets on both sides with salt and pepper.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of truffle oil to the pan, mixing it with what’s left of the guanciale fat (some of which would have been absorbed by the mushrooms).
6. At this point, add in your sliced fennel and fry for a minute over a medium high heat.
7. Move your fennel to the sides of the pan and add the fish fillets to the pan (skin side down)
8. Cook over a medium-high heat on the skin for about 5-6 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fillets) or until the sides of your fish have turned opaque.
9. At this point it’s time to flip your fish and cook for a further minute on the other side. Add your mushrooms back to the pan to warm up prior to serving.
10. Transfer your beautiful fish fillets to a warmed plate and garnish with the mushrooms, cooked fennel and crispy guanciale lardons. Serve alongside sides of your choice.
11. Finish with the reserved fennel leaves and a drizzle of truffle oil.

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Notes:

Most supermarkets have guanciale available at their delicatessen section. If you’re unable to find guanciale, feel free to substitute with its slightly-less-impressive-but-still-delicious cousin – pancetta.

I understand that there are quite a few people (myself included!) that aren’t massive fans of the aniseed flavour of fennel. However, on Sarah’s insistence I gave it a try and it really works well in this dish. If you cannot find fresh fennel, adding a single star anise just before you add the fish makes an excellent alternative. If you have neither, simply skip this step. When plating up, garnish with some freshly chopped dill and lemon zest.

Feel free to use any mushrooms you can find or like. Oyster mushrooms give a nice texture while the larger portobello mushrooms lend an impressive appearance to the end dish. Cooking times might vary a bit according to the size of the mushrooms.

The same applies to the choice of fish. I like using sea bass because I love the flavour and it’s usually easy to find at a reasonable price. But this would work with any similar white fish fillets.

Using the same skillet throughout helps to retain all those delicious flavours and ties all the components of this dish together.

Cooking the fish skin side down for the majority of the time ensures a nice crispy skin while also preventing the flesh from drying out. Make sure you serve the fish skin side up to preserve its crispiness! If you really want a super crispy skin, gently push down the fillet (for about 15 seconds) when first adding it to the pan using a spatula. This increases the surface area with thich the skin is in contact of the pan.

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You can easily cook this up for 8 people. Just double the portions, and use two skillets at the same time. Do not overcrowd a single pan. It can also be halved for a romantic treat for 2.

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