Monkfish Bourguignon

Serves:: 4
Prep Time:: 20 mins
Cook Time:: 40 mins

This is a recipe from Home Shores by Emily Scott (Quadrille, £28). Photography by Matt Russell. You can follow Emily on Instagram @emilyscottfood or visit her website

The classic flavours of boeuf bourguignon are here combined with monkfish. There are not many easy ways to swap meat for fish, but the meaty, robust nature of monkfish can keep up with the pace and is a really lovely alternative to using beef. A lighter red wine like Pinot Noir sets the scene well, giving you a relatively quick, stew-like, comforting fish supper.

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Ingredients

450 g (1 lb) monkfish on the bone, trimmed and cut into 4 cm (11⁄2 in) pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter

12 small round shallots, peeled, halved

6 garlic cloves, peeled

250 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) Basic Fish Stock (page 244 in the book Home Shores)

1 x 400 g (14 oz) tin of chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried chilli (hot pepper) flakes

1 bouquet garni (rosemary and thyme sprigs plus a bay leaf tied together)

6 baby carrots, trimmed and halved lengthways

200 g (7 oz) sugar snap peas

1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)

500 ml (17 fl oz/generous 2 cups) red wine (Pinot Noir)

sea salt

thyme leaves, to garnish

buttery mash, to serve

Method

Pat dry the monkfish with paper towels and season with sea salt.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan. Once bubbling, cook the monkfish in batches until the fish is golden brown. Remove and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté the shallots and garlic for 10 minutes until softened and translucent. Pour in the fish stock, allowing it to gently deglaze the pan, and bring to a simmer. Add the tin of tomatoes, chilli flakes and the bouquet garni, then add the baby carrots. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are tender (be careful not to overcook them).

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the sugar snap peas for 5 minutes, then refresh under cold water. Set aside.

In a small bowl, slake the cornflour with the red wine. Pour into the pan, then add the monkfish pieces back to the pan and simmer for 5–6 minutes until the monkfish is just cooked. Finally, add the sugar snap peas.

Ladle into warm bowls and serve with buttery mash, garnished with extra thyme leaves.