Monkfish, Roasted Over Charcoal with Ratatouille
This dish is far better cooked on a charcoal or gas-fired barbecue because not only does the monkfish get that wonderful chargrilled flavour but you can also barbecue the peppers and aubergines for the ratatouille, which lends it a marvellously smoky taste. However, if you dont have a barbecue, you can do all the cooking indoors and the dish will still taste good. The secret of making a great ratatouille is to cook the vegetables thoroughly so that the flavours are concentrated and you end up with something full of flavour rather than everyones weak and watery nightmare vegetarian dish! Although this ratatouille is made with grilled vegetables you can also serve the monkfish with a more conventional ratatouille.
This dish is far better cooked on a charcoal or gas-fired barbecue because not only does the monkfish get that wonderful chargrilled flavour but you can also barbecue the peppers and aubergines for the ratatouille, which lends it a marvellously smoky taste. However, if you dont have a barbecue, you can do all the cooking indoors and the dish will still taste good. The secret of making a great ratatouille is to cook the vegetables thoroughly so that the flavours are concentrated and you end up with something full of flavour rather than everyones weak and watery nightmare vegetarian dish! Although this ratatouille is made with grilled vegetables you can also serve the monkfish with a more conventional ratatouille.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 kilogram monkfish tail
- 1 head garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds ground
- 2 ea pepper, green
- 2 ea pepper, red
- 150 mililiters oil, olive
- 2 ea aubergines sliced into 5mm thick rounds
- 2 large onion sliced
- 450 grams courgettes sliced
- 3 ea tomato, beefsteak skinned and quartered
- 1 sprig thyme leaves only
- 2 ea bay leaf, fresh very thinly sliced
- Carbohydrate 7.9024 g
- Cholesterol 62.5 mg
- Fat 3.96853 g
- Fiber 1.30550001525879 g
- Protein 37.36656 g
- Saturated Fat 0.882642 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (313g)
- Sodium 87.682 mg
- Sugar 6.59689998474121 g
- Trans Fat 0.866275 g
- Calories 225 calories
Step-by-step
- Remove the skin from the monkfish and cut off most of the membrane (see p.1 5), otherwise the tail will curl up rather unattractively while it cooks. Make 10 small incisions all over it with the point of a small knife.Take 10 slices of the garlic and turn them over in the ground fennel to coat. Slide them down the blade of the knife into the monkfish.
- For the ratatouille, brush the peppers with some of the oil and grill on a barbecue, turning them as they blacken and blister Put the sliced aubergines in a shallow dish with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and turn them over in the oil until well coated. Cook on the barbecue for a few minutes on both sides until soft. If you don't have a barbecue, you can cook the vegetables on a cast-iron ribbed pan or cook the peppers under a domestic grill and fry the aubergines in the same amount of oil.
- Heat half the remaining oil in a heavy-based flameproof casserole dish, add the onions and cook very gently for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining garlic and the courgettes, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Pour the rest of the oil into a frying pan and fry the tomatoes over a high heat until just beginning to fall apart. Add the tomatoes and all the oil to the casserole.
- Remove the blistered skin from the peppers, cut them in half and remove the seeds, taking care not to pour away the delicious juice that will have accumulated inside. Pour this into the casserole. Slice the peppers and add them, too, with the aubergines. Stir in more salt and pepper and the thyme and bay leaves, then cook the ratatouille, uncovered, over a very gentle heat for about I hour, by which time the excess moisture in the vegetables will have evaporated and the vegetables should shine with oil.
- Meanwhile, brush the monkfish with oil and season well with salt and pepper Cook over the barbecue for 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned Alternatively, grill it under a high heat for 5 minutes on each side.
- Now put it on top of the ratatouille, cover with a lid and simmer for the last 20 minutes of the ratatouille cooking time. Check that the monkfish is cooked by making a small incision in the thickest part right into the centre.The fillet should be white right through. If it still looks a bit translucent in the middle, give it another 5 minutes.
- To serve, lift out the monkfish and cut it into slices. Spoon the ratatouille on to I warmed plates, place the sliced monkfish on top and serve with a green salad and a bottle of ice-cold Bandol ros? wine.
Adapting Equipment for Smoke and Heat
Cooking this dish over a charcoal or gas-fired barbecue introduces a smoky element to the peppers and aubergines that indoor cooking cannot fully replicate. Lacking an outdoor grill, you can achieve similar charring by utilizing a cast-iron ribbed pan for the vegetables and searing the fish under a high indoor broiler. The flavor profile changes slightly without direct wood or charcoal smoke, yet the dish remains deeply savory when the vegetables are managed correctly.
Controlling Moisture in the Ratatouille
Many cooks ruin ratatouille by rushing the process, resulting in a weak and watery dish. True concentration requires cooking the sliced onions very gently for about 30 minutes until soft and sweet. Uncovering the casserole during the final hour of simmering allows excess moisture to evaporate completely until the vegetables shine with oil rather than floating in liquid.
Preparing and Testing the Fish
Monkfish tails feature a tough outer membrane that causes the meat to curl unattractively if left intact. Removing this skin and cutting small incisions for fennel-coated garlic slices ensures the tail stays flat and infuses the dense flesh with aromatics. Simmering the browned fish atop the ratatouille for the final 20 minutes gently finishes the cooking process. Check doneness by making a small incision in the thickest part of the fillet; the interior should be opaque white all the way through.
