Watching cooking shows when hungry is kind of like going grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Probably not the best idea. We were watching the final episode of The Wild Gourmets in Spain on the ABC the other night … by the end of it I was dying for clams with white beans and tomatoes, and white fish marinated in salsa verde with yellow potatoes and a salad of some kind with jamon and pine nuts and strong blue cheese – I don’t even eat meat, it was at the point of ridiculous.
Alas it was 8:30 on Saturday night, I was well ensconced in not only my pj’s but the lounge as well, and there was absolutely no way that we were going to leave the apartment and go out in search of pasta with chili and garlic.
Enter pantry staples and dumb luck of remembering that there was monkfish in the freezer. Voila – dinner on demand. There is pasta, and chili and garlic. There is no going wrong here. Happy bellies. Back to the lounge.
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Chili Garlic Monkfish Pasta
Ingredients
4 cloves garlic – grated
1-2 tsp chili flakes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
250g wholewheat pasta
200g monkfish
grated lemon zest and chopped parsley to serve
Full Method
Mix together chili, garlic, salt and olive oil. Thinly slice fish. Add 3/4 of the oil mixture to the fish and toss to coat, set aside for 10 mins to marinate.
Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Reserving approx 1/2 cup of the pasta water, drain and keep warm.
Cook marinated fish in a large non-stick pan until just brown and cooked through, remove from pan and set aside. Without cleaning out pan, saute remaining oil mixture for a minute. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to deglaze pan and make a bit of a sauce. Toss through pasta and gently stir in fish, adding more water if necessary. Finish with lemon zest and fresh parsley. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-3, double as required.
*Notes:
- You could use prawns [shrimp] for this or clams or any other firm white fish or no fish at all to tell you the truth. Whatever tickles your fancy.
- Make it Gluten-Free by using GF pasta.
