fish

grilled butterflied monkfish with a sweet runnerbean stew

servings
4

method

I absolutely love to cook runner beans this way. They take on fantastic flavor and go so well, when eaten hot, with roasted fish or white meat. They’re also really good served cold as an antipasto. Please give them a try. To finish off this dish I’m going to use a great flavor enhancer called gremolata. The classic combination is garlic, lemon zest and flat-leaf parsley, all chopped together really finely. It can be sprinkled over stews, broths, soups or pasta dishes at the last minute. It really brings a dish to life. You get the fragrance and sharpness of the lemon and the hum of the garlic.

Feed the runner beans through a bean cutter. If you don’t have one, just run your speed peeler down each side of the bean to get rid of the stringy bits and then cut them into 1cm pieces at an angle.

Your runner bean stew can be cooked in advance or started just before you cook the fish. Heat a large saucepan, big enough to hold all the ingredients, and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil plus the oil from the jar of anchovies. Chop 4 of the garlic cloves and fry them gently with the anchovies and dried chili until it all goes soft and the anchovies break down into a mush. Pour in the crushed tomatoes or passata and add the beans and the rosemary sprigs. Season and bring to the boil. Place a lid on the pan and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes or until the beans are nicely cooked. If the sauce gets a little dry, add a splash of water and give the beans a stir.

Lay the monkfish pieces on a chopping board and slice them horizontally almost in half, so they open out like a book. Try to get them so you have an even thickness on both sides. Score the fish lightly and put to one side.

To make the gremolata, finely chop the remaining clove of garlic with a pinch of salt. Next, finely chop the parsley and finely grate the lemon zest. Mix these with the garlic, give it all one last chop and put aside to sprinkle over at the end.

Heat a very large griddle pan or frying pan (or use two smaller ones). Season the fish well with salt and pepper and rub lightly with olive oil. Cook the fish for 2 minutes each side or until just cooked through (don’t be tempted to overcook it).

Take the beans off the heat, taste and season them once again if necessary. Remove the rosemary sprigs and squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Place a pile of beans on each plate and top with a piece of fish. Sprinkle over the basil leaves and gremolata. Or you could serve the whole lot on a big platter in the middle of the table – family service style!

• from Jamie at Home

ingredients

• 600g runner beans, trimmed
• olive oil 1 x 100g jar of good anchovy fillets, in oil
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
• 700g jar of passata or 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes, crushed
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 x 200g thick pieces of monkfish, skinned and trimmed properly – ask your fishmonger
• a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• a small bunch of fresh green or purple basil, leaves picked

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by RedfoxEstonia on Sat 25 Sep 2010 @ 11:06

now I got a bean craving. I need to find some when I go to town.
this really sounds delicious.

2. by Laura on Wed 27 May 2009 @ 19:30

I am going to cook this dish for friends, one of whom does not eat fish so I shall exchange it for chicken. Do the anchovies just add a saltiness, or do they add a fish flavor to the beans?

3. by natalie on Mon 09 Mar 2009 @ 22:02

heya,
just tried your recipe with chicken instead of fish....
have to tell u... it was also very delicious...
absolutly love your cooking style...
thanks for all the good and healthy recipes...
hope u and your family are doing well...
natalie xx

4. by Claire on Mon 16 Feb 2009 @ 08:26

Thanks for another DIVINE recipe! Such a great combination of flavours. My entire family really loved this one. Thanks heaps!

5. by hvhi on Sat 13 Sep 2008 @ 14:37

hi i luv your food

6. by Dave Harte on Mon 21 Jul 2008 @ 23:34

Tried this with chicken instead of fish. Great recipe - lovely sweet taste to the sauce. The beans in the pic above look like they were picked very young. There's a (not very good) pic of the version my wife made on my blog:

http://daveharte.com/gardening/july-harvest-jamie-oliver/

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