Tagine of Monkfish

Submitted by LEGs Mom and Dad

"Monkfish marinated in Chermoula, a lemony garlic and cilantro paste. A very Moroccan flavor."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 lbs monkfish, cut into chunks
• 15 -20 small new potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
• 4 -5 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 -7 garlic cloves
• 15 -20 cherry tomatoes
• 2 green bell peppers, broiled until black, skinned, seeded, and cut into strips
• 1 cup kalamata olive
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 loaf crusty bread (optional)

directions

1. Pound 2 garlic cloves and salt into a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle. Add the cumin, paprika, juice from the lemon, and chopped cilantro and mix until slightly emulsified. This is the chermoula.
2. Reserve a little of the chermoula for cooking and rub the rest of it over the monkfish. Cover and leave to marinate in a cool place for 1 hour.
3. Par-boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes and then cut them in-half. Thinly slice the remaining garlic cloves. Heat 3-4 tbsp of the olive oil in a heavy pan and stir in the garlic. When the garlic just begins to color, add the tomatoes and cook until just softened.
4. Add the peppers to the tomatoes and garlic, together with the remaining chermoula, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spread the potatoes over the base of a shallow pan or deep, ridged frying pan. Spoon 3/4 of the tomato and pepper mixture over and place the marinated fish chunks on top with the chermoula you reserved in step #2.
6. Spoon the rest of the tomato and pepper mixture over the fish and add the olives. Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the dish and pour in the water.
7. Heat until simmering. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
8. Serve with fresh, warm, crusty bread.

Reviews

[Hey Jude]

I loved this. My Jap/Italian husband was just so-so on it, but I told him, you can only eat so much teriyaki, sushi and spaghetti....it was a new flavor for him. I made as written except for the tomatoes....my store wanted $4.99 for a basket of cherry tomatoes and I had 2, very nice, plum tomatoes at home so I used those instead (halved and sliced thickly). Very nice blend of flavors in this recipe. I was a bit confused at step #5, where it says to add the fish along with the remainder of the marinade (which I thought I had already done in step #4), then I realized it meant to add the fish and ALL the marinade the fish had been soaking in, so a bit of confusion there. Lots of nice, flavorful juice to soak into the crusty bread. Wonderful bright flavors in this recipe....thanks <a href="/member/334055">Chef #334055</a> (get a name would ja :) for posting this recipe.