Sea bass with braised courgettes & harissa mayo

Crisp-skinned, creamy-fleshed bass atop a pile of collapsing courgettes and tomatoes, spiked with dill and punchy harissa mayo. This is my go-to quick dinner when I’ve got a load of courgettes and a handful of cherry tomatoes that need using up. Cooking the veg down into an almost-sauce makes the perfect accompaniment to any fish – and if you don’t eat fish, it’s also very good tossed through pasta.

SERVES 2 PREP 15 mins COOK 20 mins MORE EFFORT

2 sea bass fillets

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 thyme sprig squeeze lemon juice For the braised courgettes

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil pinch of fennel seeds

1 red onion, finely sliced pinch of dried red chilli handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

2 medium or 1 large courgette (about 200g), sliced 0.5cm thick 100ml white wine or sherry 1 lemon, juice, plus lemon wedges, to serve handful of dill, chopped

For the harissa mayo

4 tbsp good-quality, shop-bought mayonnaise

1 tbsp harissa, or more, to taste

1 Stir the mayonnaise and harissa together and refrigerate until ready to use.

2 For the courgettes, heat the olive oil in a high-sided, non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the fennel seeds, red onion and chilli with a pinch of salt for 5 mins until softened and fragrant, then add the cherry tomatoes, garlic and courgettes, season and cook down for a few mins. Pour in the wine, lemon juice and about 200ml water and simmer briskly for 15-20 mins, until the tomatoes and courgettes are collapsing. Bubble off any excess water. Stir through the dill and keep warm while you cook the sea bass. (Take your fish out of the fridge 20 mins before you cook it to bring it up to room temperature.)

3 Heat another 2 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan with the thyme over a low-to-medium heat and place the sea bass fillets, skin-side down in the pan. Season the flesh-side of the fillets with salt and pepper. Cook gently until the skin is crisp (it might spit during this time, so best to wear an apron), for about 8 mins, then add the lemon juice and baste the flesh of the fish in the warm oil and lemon, for about 4 mins, or until opaque and cooked through.

4 Divide the vegetables between plates and top with the bass. Serve with the harissa mayo.

GOOD TO KNOW 2 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 1,010 kcals • fat 92g • saturates 11g • carbs 13g • sugars 11g • fibre 4g • protein 22g

• salt 0.5g