Fish Cooked in Tomato Sauce with Tahini

By jonoandjules on 18 December 2024

Two delicious sauces combine to really highlight the fish in this North African inspired dish. We used hake but you can of course use other white fish fillets. Serve with couscous and pitta breads.

Wine Suggestion: it is quite a complex challenge to balance the spices, tomatoes and creamy tahini, but we think this works great with Mediterranean inspired blends that include a bit of Tempranillo like Parker Estate Favourite Son Shiraz-Tempranillo. Despite this being a bigger red and this being a fish dish there's a certain freshness from Coonawarra that comes through and very complimentary spices that make this work.

Fish cooked in tomato sauce with tahini - serves 4

4 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
a pinch of chilli flakes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
1 preserved lemon
4 fillets of hake (or other white fish)
fresh coriander, to serve

FOR THE TAHINI SAUCE:

1 clove of garlic
half a lemon
80g tahini
5-6 tbsp ice-cold water
a pinch of ground cumin

Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then cook the onion with a pinch of salt until soft. Add the garlic and spices and continue frying for another minute or two, then add the tomato purée and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, then rinse the tins with a little water and add that too. Break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon and simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce. Quarter and deseed the preserved lemon, then chop into small pieces and add to the sauce.

Meanwhile, make the tahini sauce. Grate the garlic into a bowl, then squeeze over the juice of the half lemon, mix together and set aside for 5 minutes. Add the tahini to the garlic and lemon and whisk together, then add 1 tbsp of the cold water at a time, whisking until you have a smooth, runny sauce. Season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of cumin.

Season the fish, then nestle it into the tomato sauce. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until just cooked (a thermometer will help if you have one). Serve with the tahini sauce and coriander over the top and with some couscous and pitta breads.

(Original recipe from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts, Ebury Press, 2023.)