Recipe: Pan seared barramundi with salsa verde

Pan seared Cone Bay barramundi, pepperonata, salsa verde

Spring in Melbourne = Spring racing carnival!

This dish is being served on the menu in The Terrace Restaurant overlooking the track on Crown Oaks Day.

I love this dish for lunch or dinner in any kind of weather, but it does suit spring weather in particular. Stunning barramundi from Cone Bay Farm in WA seared in the pan then finished in the oven and served with the Italian warm pepper salad and a fresh green sauce. Easy to do at home too!

Cooking the barramundi

A nice size barramundi from your local fish monger will be perfect.
Choose about a 1.5kg fish and get your fish monger to descale and fillet the fish for you. You can cut the 2 larger fillets into 8 nice pieces at home and use a sharp knife to score the skin of the fish, just slicing a little way into the fish in long stripes, this will help the skin to stay in one place whilst you cook it and not shrink.

Use a hot non stick pan to sear the skin of the fish pieces for about 3 minutes with a generous amount of olive oil, then put the fish pieces on a tray with a splash of wine and finish cooking in an oven at 180’C for about 8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Before you do this:

Make your pepperonata and salsa verde using the recipes below

For the pepperonata
For 8 portions

Ingredients:
3 red capsicum, deseeded and cut into strips
3 yellow capsicum, deseeded and cut into strips
6 red shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4 fresh bay leaves
2 small red bullet chillies, split lengthways and left intact
3 roma tomatoes cut into large dice
80g unsalted butter
80ml olive oil
80g caster sugar
20g Spanish sweet smoked paprika
80ml Spanish sherry vinegar

Method:

1. Heat a wide based stainless steel saut? pan with shallow sides to medium heat with the extra virgin olive oil and butter
2. Add the garlic and shallots and gently saut? with no colour until soft
3. Increase the heat and add the chilli, bay leaves, sugar and paprika and stir for 3 to 5 minutes to ensure sugar melts and flavours intensify
4. Now add the capsicums and stir another 5 minutes to ensure well coated
5. Whilst still on a high heat, add the vinegar to deglaze, turn down the heat and add the tomatoes and chicken stock
6. Simmer gently with a lid on the pan for 30minutes, then remove lid and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes until sauce looks slightly reduced and capsicums are soft, check seasoning and remove from heat and leave to cool down. Can be served at room temperature.
 

Simple Salsa Verde
For 8 portions

Ingredients:
1 garlic cloves fine chopped
1 tablespoon rinsed baby capers
5 anchovy fillets ? rough chopped
? bunch of flat leaf parsley picked and washed
? small bunch of mint picked and washed
? small bunch of chives rough chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Enough extra virgin olive oil to make a wet dressing when pureed
1. Combine all of the above ingredients in the blender, except for the extra virgin olive oil.
2. Start to puree the ingredients and add the oil until you get a wet thick green dressing that has a thick mayo consistency that can be spooned on to your fish
3. Season with salt and pepper