Pan-fried bream with fennel and chickpea bake

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 45 MINUTES

400g canned chopped tomatoes 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano (rigani) ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 2 small (400g) fennel bulbs

400g canned chickpeas, rinsed, drained 50g butter

4 x 150g bream fillets

1 tablespoon drained baby capers 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 Combine undrained tomatoes, paprika, oregano, parsley and oil in a medium bowl. Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2 Reserve some of the fennel fronds. Trim fennel bulbs; cut bulbs into thin wedges. Place fennel wedges and chickpeas in an ovenproof dish; spoon tomato mixture over fennel mixture. Cover dish; bake for 40 minutes or until fennel is tender.

3 Heat a large frying pan over mediumhigh heat. Add half the butter; fry bream, skin-side down, pressing with an egg slice, for 3 minutes. Turn, cook for a further 1 minute or until just cooked through. Transfer to a warm plate.

4 Add the remaining butter and capers to pan; cook for 1 minute or until butter is browned lightly. Add juice to pan; swirl pan over the heat for 1 minute. Spoon the juices over the bream; top with reserved fennel fronds or parsley.

5 Serve bream with the fennel bake. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.