Fish & Seafood
Polenta Crusted Fish Cakes with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Description
"Fish cakes are perceived as being quite British, and they're always a bit brown and a little dull," Yotam Ottolenghi says. To make the cakes more vibrant, he adds plenty of herbs and serves them with a tarragon-infused tomato sauce spiked with fresh red chile.
Ingredients
- Sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 garlic clove (minced)
- 1 large fresh red chile (minced)
- 4 large plum tomatoes (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped tarragon
- Salt
- Fish Cakes
- ¾ pound Yukon Gold potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks)
- ¼ cup instant polenta
- 1 ½ pounds skinless cod (or halibut fillets, cut into 1-inch chunks)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and chile and cook over moderately low heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over moderate heat until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and water and simmer for 2 minutes longer. Add the tarragon and season with salt.
- In a saucepan, cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Boil over moderately high heat until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain well and lightly mash the potatoes with a fork.
- Spread the polenta in a pie plate. In a food processor, combine the fish, garlic, parsley, cilantro, salt, cumin, egg and crushed red pepper and pulse until the fish is coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the potatoes. Form the mixture into twelve 2-inch cakes (1/2 inch thick); coat with the polenta.
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add half of the fish cakes and pan-fry over moderately high heat until golden brown and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and fish cakes, adjusting the heat if the cakes get too dark. Serve the fish cakes hot or at room temperature with the warm tomato sauce.
