Ozzy Beck's Coley, Butternut Squash & Cavolo Nero
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Ingredients
Fillet of coley (or other firm, white fish)
Butternut squash
Cavolo nero (or other dark green leafy veg like spinach)
Knob of ginger, rougly chopped
Butter
Rapeseed oil
Salt & Pepper
Smoked paprika
Cumin
Nutmeg
Lemon juice
Method
Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scrape out the seeds and stringy bits, reserving the seeds.
Put the seeds on a baking tray and toast them in a medium oven until crispy, as you would with nuts, shaking the tray every now and then. They will crackle and pop a little so don't worry about the noise. Keep for later.
Cut the thick part of the squash into equal sized cubes, about 1cm on a side. Chop the rest and offcuts roughly.
Toss the cubes with rapeseed oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cumin, arrange on a baking tray and roast in a hot oven until crispy, turning halfway, about 20 minutes. Keep warm.
Cook the chopped squash and ginger in a generous amount of butter and some water until soft, then blend in a food processor, season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cumin. Keep warm.
Cook the leafy parts of the cavolo nero in a little butter and water, season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg, drain and keep warm.
Heat a non-stick frying pan to just above medium. Rub the fillet with rapeseed oil, season with salt and pepper and fry in the pan, presentation side down, pressing down on it for the first minute or so so it cooks evenly and gets a nice crust. Do not move it or shake the pan. When it's cooked about three quarters through, add a knob of butter to the pan, take it off the heat, turn the fillet over, squeeze some lemon juice over and baste with the butter/lemon juice until cooked through in the residual heat. How long this takes will depend on the thickness of the fillet but you can see if it's cooked by how the flesh turns opaque and is firm to the touch.
On a warm plate, spread a generous amount of the puree, add the cavolo nero and sit the fillet on top. Scatter squash cubes and seeds around and serve immediately.
