This recipe is from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro who cooks from the heart. It takes a little while to cook but is so simple and delicious. It would also be easy to cook when camping if that matters to you. As José says, this is the comfort dish that his mother would cook … need we say more.
Wine Suggestion: Spanish inspired, but off the beaten track is a Garnacha Blanco from Terra Alta (quite possibly one of the best places in the world for Garnacha of both colours alongside Chateauneuf du Pape … although quite different in style). If you can stretch to an old vine expression like this you’re in for a treat. For us tonight an easier, fresher style with Edetària’s “via Terra” which is charming with layers of fresh stone fruit, nuttiness and salinity. It tastes both of the earth, sunshine and fresh cooling breezes.
Hake with slow-cooked onions and tomato salsa – serves 4
- 100ml olive oil
- 3 large onions, finelly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 150ml white wine
- 150ml vegetable stock
- 4 hake fillets (200-250g each)
- a handful of basil leaves
FOR THE TOMATO SALSA:
- 500g ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
- ½ small red onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp capers, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Heat the oil in a deep sauté pan with a lid. Add the onions and season well with salt and black pepper, then cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Cover with the lid and cook for half an hour until really soft but not coloured.
Meanwhile, mix all of the salsa ingredients together in a bowl, then season well and set aside to mingle.
Add the wines to the onions and bubble for a minute before adding the stock. Simmer, uncovered for 10-12 minutes then seaon the hake fillets and nestle them into the onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with the lid and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and rest for 2-3 minutes.
Spoon the salasa over the fish and onions, then scatter the basil over before serving.
(Original recipe from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro, Hardie Grant Books, 2022.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 
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