Merlu à l'Espagnole (Hake)

Start by preparing the sauce ingredients. Skin and discard the pips from sufficient tomatoes to deliver one good tablespoonful of chopped tomatoes per serving. Finely chop cloves of garlic to deliver a heaped teaspoonful per serving. Chop the parsley to deliver a handful per serving.

Cut the hake fillet(s) into suitably sized pieces, and use a pastry bush to liberally coat the pieces with olive oil. Season with salt and fresh black pepper and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Put the pieces skin side down in (preferably) individual ovenproof serving dishes, and cook at 350°F/180°C/Reg4 for just ten minutes.

Meanwhile put about a tablespoonful of olive oil per serving in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add half a teaspoonful of chilli flakes (if used) per two servings and the chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes without browning the garlic. Stir in the tomato and parsley and take off the heat.

When the fish is ready, use a large spatula or fish slice to keep the pieces in place while you drain off and discard any liquid. Then spoon over the tomato/garlic/parsley sauce leaving most of the olive oil behind. Put under a hot grill for two or three minutes and serve immediately  Zoom  .