Sea Bass with Piquillo Sauce and Celeriac

For a light, zingy, and relatively quick summer dinner, this dish is perfect. With the flaky seabass and flavoursome piquillo sauce, add some honey to cut through the earthiness of the celeriac for a real depth of flavour!

Equipment

Copper Tri-Ply 20cm Saucepan

Copper Tri-Ply 24cm Sauté Pan

Copper Tri-Ply 24cm Non-Stick Frying Pan

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a main

• 300g celeriac, chopped into 4cm cubes
• Maldon Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper (any coarse sea salt will do)
• 125ml olive oil
• 2 large shallots, peeled and diced
• 1.5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 x 390g tin or jar of piquillo peppers, drained
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 50ml manzanilla sherry
• 12 fresh sage leaves
• 4 fillets of wild sea bass (approx. 180-200g each)

Method

1. Peel and cube the celeriac and cook in plenty of salted boiling water until tender (approx. 30 minutes). Drain, allow to cool.
2. Heat 25ml of the oil in a Copper Tri-Ply 24cm Non-Stick Frying Pan. Add the shallots, garlic, and bay leaves and gently fry for 5 minutes, until just translucent.
3. Finely slice the piquillo peppers and add to the pan with the caster sugar. Stir well.
4. Add the manzanilla sherry and 125ml of water, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
6. Put into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
7. Heat 75ml of oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan (we used our Copper Tri-Ply 24cm Sauté Pan). Brown the celeriac, add the sage leaves and season.
8. While the celeriac is browning, score the skin of the sea bass every 0.5cm or so, making sure you don’t score all the way to the edge of the fish.
9. Heat the remaining 25ml of oil in a large, heavy bottomed non-stick frying pan until smoking and fry the sea bass (skin side down) for about 6 minutes. Season well and then carefully turn the fish and fry on the other side for another 2 minutes, seasoning again.
10. Serve the fish as soon as it’s ready. We served it on a bed of the piquillo sauce and celeriac.

Top Tip: We added a glaze of honey to our celeriac to cut through the earthiness. You could also use maple syrup.

Recipe courtesy of Barrafina.