Fish - Monk Fish wrapped in Bacon

Monk Fish wrapped in Bacon

 BBC Good Food, adapted by Charlotte

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Ingredients:

• 1 monkfish tail
• 10 rashers of unsmoked streaky bacon
• 2 king prawns (we had a couple extra as starters too)
• Baby new potatoes (about 8 served two of us)
• 10 small asparagus spears
• Cherry tomatoes (we had them on the vine, two lots of 5 or 6)
• 2tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Garlic oil or garlic butter
• Sea salt

Method:

Prepare the monkfish tail, by slicing along either side of the backbone on the widest part. Turn the fish on the side and slice along the backbone, from the incision made to the tail (see video). Sandwich the two fillets together, with the tail end of one on top of the thicken of the other. Then lay out the bacon flat on the surface and wrap up the monkfish, with the join of the bacon at the bottom. Put this in the fridge if you’re preparing it ahead of time. Skewer the prawns and brush a little of the garlic oil (or heat the garlic butter to become liquid then brush) over the prawns, coating both sides. Leave to rest on the plate before cooking. If you’re preparing this ahead of time, put them back in the fridge after.

Pre-heat the oven to 190°c. Wash the potatoes and put them in a roasting tray with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt, then move them around the tray to coat all sides in the oil. Put them in the oven for 40min, turning a few times during cooking to ensure all sides are nice and brown.

Heat a large frying pan (big enough to fit the fish in) on a medium heat with some olive oil. Put the monkfish in the pan, with the side down that has the ends of the bacon, or the joins. Cook for 5min on each of the four sides (top, bottom, left, right as it’s a round). Then rest for 5min.

Heat the grill to a high setting and put the garlic prawns on under, cooking for 4-5min each side, depending on the size. Keep checking them, and take them out as soon as they’re done. When the potatoes have 10min left, add the cherry tomatoes to the potatoes in the roasting tin and drizzle with a little oil and salt. Return to the oven for the last 10min. Heat a small saucepan of water to boiling and add the asparagus and simmer for 5min.

In the pan which had the monkfish, add the balsamic vinegar to make a glaze/sauce to drizzle over the plate. Slice the monkfish into rounds, and then serve with the potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus and prawn(s) then drizzle over the balsamic glaze.