Baked Fish with Chorizo Crust

I recently purchased the Homgeek Mini Chopper Food Processor and Meat Grinder and its been a gamechanger for recipes like Baked Fish with Chorizo Crust from the Hairy Dieters – a simple way to liven up a regular piece of cod or haddock with a tasty topping.

My regular ‘big boy’ food processor is lurking at the back of a cupboard – it’s a pain in the arse to get out, assemble, clean and put back. To get round the lack of storage space in my kitchen, I tried buying a stick blender, which is ideal for blending soups but not for blitzing harder foods. Fortunately, the Homgeek came to my rescue and this meal turned out perfectly. It’s great with mash and some vege – the Hairy Dieters have some fab mash ideas towards the back of their second book – Eat for Life.

If you like this, you’ll probably also enjoy roasted cod with parma ham and peppers and smoky pancetta cod.

Recipe: Baked Fish with Chorizo Crust   

Calories: 255 per portion (without mash, new potatoes and/or veg)

Serves: 4

Book: Hairy Dieters – Eat for Life

Prep time: Approx 20 minutes

Cooking time: Approx 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 x 150g thick white fish fillets, such as haddock or cod (skinned)
• Freshly squeezed juice and finely grated zest of ½ large lime
• Oil, for spraying
• 100g chorizo sausage, skinned (if necessary) and cut into 1.5cm slices
• 2 thick slices day-old white bread (about 100g), crusts removed
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• 15g bunch of flatleaf parsley (leaves roughly chopped)
• 1 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt (plus extra for seasoning)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• Extra lime wedges (to serve)
• Ground black pepper

Cost per portion: Approx £2.69

Method:

Put the fish in a non-metallic bowl and sprinkle the lime juice over it. Toss lightly, then cover and chill while you make the crust.

Lightly mist a medium non-stick frying pan with oil and fry the chorizo over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes or until the fat begins to run, stirring regularly. Tear the bread into pieces (you should have about 65g after you’ve removed the crusts) and add it to the pan. Toss the bread with the chorizo and cook for 3 minutes more until the pieces are stained all over with the red fat, stirring. Tip it all on to a plate and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.

Transfer the bread and chorizo to a food processor and blitz into crumbs. Add the garlic, lime zest, parsley, Parmesan, a teaspoon of the salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper, then process again to combine the ingredients thoroughly.

Lightly mist a baking tray with oil and put the fish, skin-side down, on the tray with the marinating juices. Spoon the chorizo mixture on top of the fish fillets and press it on firmly. Bake for 15–18 minutes until the fish is cooked and the crust is crisp.

Put the fish on warm plates, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little more salt if you like. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing. This fish goes very well with creamy mash and a few green beans, sugar snap peas or other green vegetables.