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Pan-Fried Seabass on White Bean and Chorizo Stew

Seabass isn't only a summer fish. Its crisp skin and mild, firm flesh are brilliant with something smoky and warming underneath, and this is exactly that: a quick white bean, tomato and chorizo stew, topped with golden pan-fried fillets. The chorizo does most of the work, flavouring the oil that everything else cooks in, so there's very little to it. It takes about 30 minutes from start to table, which makes it an easy midweek supper that still feels like a proper meal.


Fresh seabass fillets and the rest of our fresh fish are available in store and online: Fresh Fish & Seafood


Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 2 fresh seabass fillets, skin on (around 120-150g each)
  • 100g cooking chorizo, diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for the fish
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 x 400g tin cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 100ml chicken or fish stock
  • A handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • A small knob of butter
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • Crusty bread and lemon wedges, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep frying pan over a medium heat, add the chorizo and cook for 3-4 minutes until it has released its red oil and begun to crisp at the edges.
  2. Add the onion and cook gently for 5-6 minutes until soft, then stir in the garlic and smoked paprika for the final minute
  3. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes until they start to collapse, then tip in the beans, wine and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes, lightly crushing a few of the beans against the side of the pan so the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in half the parsley, season to taste and keep warm on the lowest heat
  4. While the stew simmers, prepare the fish. Take the seabass out of the fridge about 15 minutes before cooking and pat the skin completely dry with kitchen paper. Score the skin two or three times, rub with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. A dry skin is what gives you a crisp finish
  5. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Lay the fillets in skin-side down, pressing each one gently with a fish slice for the first 20 seconds so the skin stays flat
  6. Cook for 3-4 minutes without moving them, until the skin is golden and crisp and the flesh has turned opaque about two thirds of the way up the side. Add the butter, flip the fillets and cook for 30 seconds more. Don't overcook them, as seabass is at its best just cooked through
  7. Spoon the stew into two warm shallow bowls, lay a fillet on top of each, skin-side up so it stays crisp, and scatter over the rest of the parsley. Serve straight away with lemon wedges and crusty bread
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