Monkfish with curried lentils
The delicate flavour of monkfish is paired with warming curried lentils in this simple dish.
Ingredients
For the curried lentils
- 2cm/1in piece fresh root ginger, peeled, grated
- 50ml/2fl oz olive oil
- 1 carrot, peeled, finely diced
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 1 leek, trimmed, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled, finely chopped
- 1 tsp mild curry paste
- 200²µ/7¼´Ç³ú Puy lentils, cooked according to packet instructions
- 300ml/10½fl oz chicken stock
- 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, diced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
For the monkfish
- 200²µ/7¼´Ç³ú monkfish, trimmed, thinly sliced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, to serve
Method
For the curried lentils, place the grated ginger in a clean towel or a piece of muslin, over a small bowl, and twist the cloth to extract the juice. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the carrot, celery and leek 4-5 minutes, or until the softened.
Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Stir in the curry paste, reserved ginger juice, lentils and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat and stir in the tomatoes, coriander and crème fraîche.
For the monkfish, season the monkfish slices, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour over the lemon juice.
Carefully stir the monkfish slices into the curried lentils and heat gently for 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
To serve, spoon the monkfish and curried lentils into each of 4 serving bowls. Sprinkle over the chopped coriander.