members recipes

With barbecue season now completely established it’s time for matching a great way of cooking with delicious fresh ingredients. Monkfish Skewers are a common feature of any seaside restaurant in Portugal. They’re extremely easy to make and absolutely delicious served with a simple butter and lemon sauce. The one important thing to keep in mind with any mixed skewer is that all ingredients should be cut to more or less the same size to allow for even cooking.

Ingredients
1 Monkfish tail
1 Red pepper (cut in chunks)
1 Onion (cut in eighths)
2 Thick slices of smoked pork belly (cut in 1cm chunks)
2 Tomatoes (cut in quarters)
8 wooden skewers
Olive Oil
3 Tbsps butter
1/2 Lemon

Method
1. Soak the skewers in water before you start. This will prevent them burning later on… Remove the bone from monkfish tail and clean the flesh from all the skin (alternatively ask your fishmonger to do this). Once you have two large fillets from either side of the bone, cut into cubes.
2. Start with the quartered tomatoes and gradually fill the skewers with all the ingredients in an alternating fashion. I like to keep the belly next to the monkfish as this produces an excellent combination of flavours.
3. Once all skewers are ready, season with sea salt and a little pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and grill on hot charcoal. Turn until all sides have a nice finish.
4. Melt the butter and add a few squeezes of lemon juice. Serve the skewers immediately after cooking, pouring a little butter sauce on top and enjoy with a cool dry white wine…