Baked hake, roasted garlic cream, roasted pepper and olive dressing

Baked hake, orzo, roasted garlic cream, olive dressing. Photograph: Patrick Browne
Baked hake, orzo, roasted garlic cream, olive dressing. Photograph: Patrick Browne
Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

  • 250g orzo
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • For the sauce:
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled then thinly and evenly sliced
  • 100mls concentrated chicken stock
  • 250mls cream
  • A sprig of rosemary
  • A squeeze of lemon
  • For the dressing:
  • 4tbsp olive oil
  • 1 packet mixed mini peppers, cut in half and deseeded
  • ½tsp smoked paprika
  • Juice of half an orange
  • 80g olives, stoned and halved
  • Some torn fresh basil
  • 500g hake fillet, bones removed

1 Cook the orzo as per packet instructions. Drain in a colander and cool under cold running water. Make sure any excess water is removed. Turn in a little olive oil, season, then put into a large baking dish and set aside.

2 For the sauce, put the olive oil and garlic into a pot and turn on to a low to medium heat. It's very important that the garlic cooks slowly and evenly until it turns lightly golden.

3 Add the chicken stock and reduce by half, then add the cream and rosemary.

4 Bring the cream up to a gentle blip, then cook for 10 minutes until it reduces a little and starts to thicken. Take off the heat, remove the rosemary, add the lemon juice and season.

5 For the dressing, put the olive oil and peppers into a pan and cook on a medium high heat for 10 or so minutes until the peppers soften and char.

6 Add the smoked paprika followed a little later by the orange juice. Season and remove from the heat. When this is cool, add the torn basil.

7 Set the oven to 185 degrees.

8 Season the hake fillet on the flesh side, then lay it on top of the orzo skin side up. Press the fish down into the pasta a little, then spoon the garlic cream all around the fish making sure it soaks into the pasta. Drizzle a little olive oil over the skin, then season the fish.

9 Bake the hake in the oven for 20-25 minutes (this will entirely depend on the thickness of the fish, you will have to check).

10 When the fish is cooked, spoon the dressing on top and serve in the middle of the table. You could try to peel the skin off the hake before you put the dressing on, it's worth a try. Sometimes it comes off really easily, other times it doesn't.

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, Co Waterford