Baked red mullet with tomato, olive and dill vinaigrette

SERVES 4-6

Ask your fishmonger to gut and scale the red mullet, leaving in the liver to eat alongside the flesh as its flavour is at its best when the fish are full-sized.

4-6 red mullet depending on size

500g tomatoes

4tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 1tbsp extra for the fish 3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a few sea salt crystals

1tsp runny honey

1tbsp raw apple cider vinegar 15g bunch dill

18 Kalamata olives, sliced lengthways off the stone, and roughly chopped

Scatter the inside of the fish with sea salt crystals and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut 2 of the tomatoes into quarters and squeeze the seeds in a bowl; cut the flesh into cubes and set aside. Finely chop the remaining tomatoes and place in the bowl with the seeds. Gently heat 2tbsp oil in a pan with the garlic. Stir as soon as it sizzles and add the chopped tomatoes. Increase the heat, season with freshly ground black pepper and allow to bubble down for 5 minutes.

Stir in the rest of the oil and vinegar and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Whizz in a food processor with the honey, (not too finely), and pour into a sieve set over a bowl, pushing through as much as you can with the back of a ladle in a circular motion and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220C/ 425F/Gas 7. Place the fish in a large ovenproof dish and coat with the remaining oil. Stuff the cavities with dill fronds, keeping a little back to scatter over later. Bake for 10 minutes, then add the vinaigrette, olives, cubed tomatoes and dill and continue to bake for around 6 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.