Whole Roast Monkfish Tail with Mushrooms
Monkfish is a great fish as it has only one bone right down the center, so there are no fiddly pin bones to deal with. Plus, it has such delicate flesh so does not need much doing to it. This is a flavourful and elegant dish that is perfect for special occasions or a luxurious dinner at home. This recipe is a beautiful combination of tender, meaty monkfish tail, earthy mushrooms, and fragrant herbs.
What you’ll need
- 50g butter
- 1 monkfish tail, skin and membrane removed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 400g flat mushrooms, stalks removed, caps thinly sliced
- 200g chestnut mushrooms, stalks removed, caps thinly sliced
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 100ml madeira wine
- 375ml good-quality chicken stock
- 1/4 bunch of thyme
- 10g dried porcini mushrooms
- 50ml double cream
Let's Cook!
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 150C/130C fan. Heat half of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the shallots, garlic and a pinch each of salt and pepper and cook for about 7 minutes until soft. Add the Madeira wine and simmer for 5-7 minutes until it has a syrupy consistency, then add the stock, thyme and dried porcini mushrooms and summer gently for 30 minutes.
Step 2
Remove the thyme stalks and transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor. Blitz until smooth, pass through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and add the cream. Keep warm until ready to serve
Step 3
Heat butter in a large frying pan. Season monkfish with salt, add to the pan and brown for 5 minutes. Transfer to a roasting dish and bake for 25 minutes. Flip and bake for another 25 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes. Increase oven temp to 220C. Squeeze lemon juice over the monkfish and bake for 8 more minutes.
Step 4
Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan. Add mushrooms and season. Cook over high heat for 10 minutes (in batches if needed). Carve the monkfish either by using a serrated knife, and cutting across the bone, or by slicing down either side of the bone.Serve the fillets on top of the mushrooms and smother with the sauce.
