ARTICHOKE, WHITE BEAN AND BASIL HOUMOUSBAKED SEA BASS

If you make the houmous well in advance, there’s little you need to do before serving this dish.

Preparation 15 minutes Cooking 8-10 minutes Serves 4

1 SMALL JAR ARTICHOKE HEARTS IN OLIVE OIL (ABOUT 285G)

400G CAN COOKED BUTTER BEANS, DRAINED

2 SMALL GARLIC CLOVES, FINELY CHOPPED

2 TBSP LEMON JUICE

1 TBSP BASIL LEAVES, ROUGHLY CHOPPED, PLUS EXTRA TO SERVE

4 FILLETS SEA BASS, BONED, SKIN ON 1 TBSP OLIVE OIL

TOMATO SALAD, TO SERVE

1

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven) gas mark 4. Drain the artichokes, reserving the oil, and roughly chop them all apart from two. Blitz in a food processor with the butter beans, garlic, lemon juice, basil and around 2 tbsp artichoke oil, enough to form a semi-smooth houmous. Season with sea salt and set aside.

Lightly score the sea bass skin and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover each fillet with houmous on the flesh side. Put a large non-stick ovenproof pan over a medium-high heat and add a dash of olive oil with a little sea salt. Add the sea bass skin-side down. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for around 3 minutes so the skin crisps a little. Thinly slice the remaining artichokes and place them down the centre of each fish.

Transfer to the oven and cook for 5 minutes until the houmous has warmed through. Serve drizzled with olive oil and scattered with basil leaves, with a tomato salad on the side.

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