This is delicious served on some toasted sourdough and drizzled with your best olive oil.
Wine Suggestion: The dish is from the Marche and from near the region’s capital, Ancona s grown some of the best Verdicchio and we’re lucky to be friends with the Sartarelli family who make some of the best. Our regular is their Tralivio made from the oldest vineyards in the property, though if you push to the Balciana you’ll get one of the best Verdicchio’s in Italy and something quite special. Both work with this dish.
Monkfish stew with tomatoes, garlic, chilli & black olives – serves 6
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 mild red chilli, finely chopped
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves
- 4 tbsp black olives, stones removed
- 1.5kg monkfish fillet, cut into chunks (make sure the fishmonger removes the grey membrane for you)
- 70ml white wine
- 500ml good fish stock
- 4 tbsp tomato passata
- 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
To serve:
- 6 large slices of good bread, toasted
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Heat a splash of olive oil in a large deep sauté pan with a lid. Add the garlic, chilli, rosemary sprigs and chopped rosemary, and sauté for a minute.
Add the olives, then the fish and season. Sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the wine and bubble to burn off the alcohol, then add the fish stock, tomato passata and tomatoes. Cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes or until the fish is tender. Discard the rosemary sprigs and transfer to a large serving dish.
Our monkfish threw heaps of watery liquid. If this happens to you, just scoop the fish out with a slotted spoon and reduce the sauce, then return the fish to the stew and continue to cook as above.
Serve the fish on top of the toasted bread, drizzled with your best olive oil.
(Original recipe from Made at Home by Giorgio Locatelli, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 