Redfish Fillet Shashlik with Broccoli Risotto

Preparation of shashlik:

1. Wash the fish fillets in cold water, pat dry. If necessary, debone and cut across into approx. 2.5 cm wide strips. Pour into a bowl and season with pepper, salt and mix everything with the rosemary and the crumbled bay leaf. Mix a marinade from oil and lemon juice and pour it over the fish. Let steep in the closed bowl for at least 2 hours. Longer is also ok Stir it from time to time and close the bowl again.
2. Remove the skin from the peppers with the peeler and cut them into pieces about 3 cm in size. Wash the zucchini, cut in half and cut halves into thick slices. Peel and quarter the onion and peel them apart. Cut the bacon into 2 mm thin slices and – depending on how big the slices are – halve them if necessary.
3. Bring salted water to a boil in a saucepan. Then first blanch the paprika pieces in it for about 1 minute and then let them drain in a sieve. Then the zucchini pieces and finally the onion leaves. This is recommended because the fish only takes minutes when grilling or roasting and the vegetables would otherwise remain too hard. But everything can be well prepared and stored on a paper towel to further absorb the liquid until preparation.

Preparation of risotto:

1. For the broth and broccoli garnish, blanch about 400 g broccoli in 700 ml salted water for 2 minutes. It must have turned grass green. Then lift out immediately and place in a bowl with ice water. But do not dispose of the brew. Branch off about 130 g of small florets without a stem from the blanched broccoli and keep them ready. Then place the removed stems and the remaining broccoli in a higher container. Mix up with 500 ml of the blanching stock with the hand blender until a liquid, green broth is created. Have this and the rest of the blanching stock ready (this may be needed if the risotto is not creamy enough at the end).
2. Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into small cubes, finely chop the garlic. Finely grate the Parmesan.

Preparation of fish and risotto:

1. Lift the elongated pieces of fish out of the marinade, fold them together once on the former skin side and – depending on your mood – stick them alternately with paprika, zucchini, onion and bacon on the wooden skewers. For me there were 5 pieces. Then put the skewers ready, they will only be grilled meticulously and briefly when the risotto is ready.
2. For the risotto, heat the broccoli stock in a saucepan and keep it ready. Sweat the onion and garlic in the oil until translucent. Add the rice and let it turn lightly while stirring. Deglaze everything with the white wine, turn the heat down halfway and simmer gently. Never let the liquid boil off completely, always fill up with the broccoli broth. The core of the rice grain should still be slightly firm to the bite, but the risotto should generally be creamy, almost runny. When all the broth is used, stir in the Parmesan and butter and fold in the blanched broccoli florets. They should keep their light bite. Then season everything again and, if necessary, add pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar. If the risotto is not creamy enough at the end, some of the remaining (heated) blanching stock can be stirred in.
3. Shortly before the risotto is ready, around the time the cheese etc. is being stirred in, let the grill pan or a normal pan with a little oil get very hot. Pepper and salt the skewers all around.
4. If it “smokes” a little, put the skewers in, just turn the heat down slightly and fry them briefly on 4 sides and let them take on color. This takes a maximum of 3 minutes in total. Since the vegetables are already lightly pre-cooked from the blanching and the fish from the lemony marinade, both do not need a long roasting time. This keeps the fish juicy and the vegetables crisp. The bacon becomes slightly glassy, ​​but gives off a hearty aroma.
5. Then just arrange and …………….. let taste … 😉
6. Since it is a very light dish, 2.5 skewers are appropriate for 2 people.