Great baked Hapuka recipe

The joy of having a buddy who is a fisherman! Last week I was asked what species of fish I wanted as he was heading out to sea. Tough choice but I decided on Hapuku, as it is one of my favourites with its dense moist flesh and large fillets. A few days later three massive super fresh puka fillets where delivered.

The weather is a little colder now so I wanted to do something more comforting and warming plus it was a Sunday after a fairly big Saturday night. This is a great no fuss recipe and is perfect for entertaining, guests or just a family feast.

Baked Hapuku:

2 fillets Hapuku

1 bunch Parsley

1 bunch Mint

1 bunch Basil

2 TLB Cappers

1-2 tsp Mustard

1-4 Anchovies

4 Lemons

Olive oil

Butter

S & P

Method: 
Straight forward here, what we are making is a basic salsa verde (green sauce).

Finely chop or blend the herbs, capers, mustard, anchovies, juice of two lemons and 100-200ml olive oil to form a pesto like consistence.

Lay the fish down on a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt and pepper in an oven tray, tuck the thinner tail ends under so the fish is a relatively even thickness.

Pour over the verde; add some knobs of butter and a couple of lemon slices or wedges.

Bake at 180c for about 15mins

Serve the fish with the pan juices and baked lemon. This dish went well with a little kumara puree.

Kumara Puree: 

5 Kumara

100g Butter

Milk or cream

Salt & Pepper

Method:

Boil in salted water, steam dry in the same pot (strain and place the kumara back in the pot on the element for a min or so) add the butter and a little milk or cream back to the pot and gently warm.

Place the lot in a food processor add more milk if needed and blend until silky smooth.