Roasted Whole Turbot with Green Olive & Caper Toasts from "Go Fish" by Al Brown

• By foodie User FoodieReview
  More recipes by this foodie >
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Course: Tapas
• Serves: A bunch of people

Ingredients

I have recently had a wood-fired pizza oven built in my backyard. As soon as it was completed I had a cord of beautiful two-year-old manuka delivered that is now stacked and sorted. I fire the oven up as often as possible, as I have found there is practically nothing that can’t be cooked in it.

This dish exhibits a lot of the way that I like to entertain. A whole fish straight from the oven just plonked down on the table for everyone to slowly dissect. A large turbot is an ideal fish to serve this way, as the bone structure allows for easy access to its delicious moist flesh. Once the top fillet has been eaten, it’s just a case of removing the main skeletal configuration to reveal the underfillet. I serve it with crisp bruschetta toasts, smeared with a green olive and caper tapenade, which adds a slightly salty and sour flavour to the mix.

Step 1: Green Olive and Caper Tapenade
1 cup green olives, stones removed (I use relatively mild green olives)
3 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Step 2: Bruschetta Toasts
1 baguette (or similar)
olive oil for brushing
sea salt to taste

Step 3: Marinated Turbot
1 whole turbot (2–3kg)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons finely chopped fennel herbs
1½ tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
pinch of dried chilli flakes (or more if desired)
¹⁄³ cup olive oil

Step 4: To Cook and Serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper
cooking oil for roasting
lemon juice

Method

Step 1: Green Olive and Caper Tapenade:
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, or just chop the olives and capers as finely as possible, then mix in the olive oil and lemon juice. Cover and store in the refrigerator until required.

Step 2: Bruschetta Toasts:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Slice the bread into pieces about 1cm thick. Brush with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Place on an oven tray and bake until just crisp. Remove, cool and store in an airtight container until serving.

Step 3: Marinated Turbot:
Lay the turbot down on a board, take a sharp knife and score the flesh of the fillet by making a dozen or so slices in a herringbone pattern about 5mm deep. Rub the ingredients liberally over the turbot, gently working it into the scored flesh. Marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours, or more if you have the time.

Step 4: To Cook and Serve:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Take the turbot out of the fridge and season with a good amount of salt and pepper. Place a roasting pan that will fit the turbot in the oven to get searing hot. Remove the pan after 5 minutes, add a little cooking oil and place the turbot in belly side down. Quickly cover with tinfoil and put in the oven. Roast for 15 minutes then remove the foil and finish cooking for another 10 minutes or so until the flesh comes away easily from the bone.

While the turbot is cooking, smear the tapenade on the bruschetta toasts. Remove the turbot from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully remove the turbot from the pan onto a platter, or just leave it in the pan, and serve with the olive and caper bruschetta alongside. Squeeze some lemon over and place a palette knife nearby for the folks to help themselves by topping the bruschetta with the sweet morsels of turbot, while you get on to the next thing!

Turbot are the largest flatfish to inhabit our waters. They live on the sandy bottom, feeding on crabs and the like, hence their sweet flesh. Mainly caught on the west coasts of New Zealand, they are a more common catch the further south you go. A large turbot can grow up to 7kg in weight.

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