Fish fillet fried on the skin on grilled zucchini with wild garlic pesto and marinated tomatoes

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 600 g fish fillet(s) with skin (e.g. zander, red snapper or red mullet)
• some flour, for dusting
• 2 zucchinis
• pepper
• some sea salt, coarse
• some olive oil, for the zucchini
• e.g. Clarified butter or oil, for the fish
• possibly mint, some fresh leaves
• 400 g cocktail tomatoes
• 1 clove(s) garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 star anise
• 2 sprig(s) rosemary, fresh, alternatively dried
• 2 sprig(s) thyme, fresh, alternatively dried
• 200 ml olive oil
• ½ bunch basil
• ½ bunch wild garlic
• 20 g pine nuts
• 30 g Pecorino
• 100 ml olive oil, approx.
• some salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 5 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 45 minutes

Festive, Mediterranean fish dish with zander, red snapper or red mullet

Preheat the oven to 80°C. First, marinate the tomatoes with crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme, star anise, and fennel seeds in plenty of olive oil in the oven for 2-3 hours. As soon as the skins burst, they’re ready. This can vary depending on the variety and size. If they burst too early, simply turn off the oven and turn it back on before serving—it won’t harm the tomatoes. The excess oil can be reused later as a marinade. About 1 hour before your planned meal: For the pesto, combine the ingredients in a blender and then season to taste. If you like, you can add more pine nuts or cheese (I always make my pesto by taste). Set the finished pesto aside. Then heat a little olive oil in a grill pan (a regular pan will work in a pinch). Wash the zucchini and cut them lengthwise into thin slices. Season the slices with a little coarse sea salt and fry them in a pan, one at a time, on both sides until they become translucent and have reached the desired browning. Then keep them warm in the oven (which is already set to 80 degrees Celsius). If you like, you can also stir in some mint. Keep the plates you’ll be eating on warm as well. Wash the fish fillets, pat them dry, and cut a lattice pattern on the skin-side, but not so deep that the meat is damaged. (This prevents the fish from warping in the pan.) Season the fish with coarse sea salt and pepper and flour the skin-side. Then fry the fish in clarified butter or oil. When half of the fillet is no longer translucent, turn it over and turn off the heat (this takes 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet; this will also allow the skin to crisp up nicely). The fish will continue to cook and remain juicy. It can be served: Place the zucchini in the center of the plate, place the fish fillet on top with the beautifully cooked skin-side up, and arrange the tomatoes and pesto around it. If you’d like another filling side dish, you can serve it with small potatoes (with the skin on), pasta, or baguette. Even without a side dish, it’s a delicious, Mediterranean-inspired, and festive meal. You can also use just basil for the pesto (in which case it’s a classic pesto Genovese) or just wild garlic. Be careful, if you use wild garlic on its own, the pesto can be quite spicy (but it depends on the wild garlic). The pesto can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. If you have any leftovers, it will keep for a few days in the refrigerator with a layer of oil. It’s delicious with spaghetti or gnocchi.