Chris Baber’s one-pot Mediterranean Fish

Welcome to City Harvest Cooking with Chris Baber

City Harvest Cooking is a series where guest chefs and cooks join City Harvest in its London food rescue warehouse to create amazing dishes from surplus food. It’s all about being resourceful and getting creative with whatever might be in City Harvest’s food redistribution depot on the day of cooking. The beauty of food redistribution is its unpredictability, although having a network of fresh produce suppliers means that we often see seasonal goods come through our depot doors.

The third chef in our first series of City Harvest Cooking is TV chef and City Harvest Food Council Member, Chris Baber.

In Chris’ first City Harvest Cooking episode, we are transported to the Med with this delicious one-pot fish recipe. For those nervous about cooking fish, this is such a simple and delicious way to enjoy any piece of fish, and it all comes together in less than thirty minutes.

Ingredients  (serves 4)

Prep time: 10 mins, cooking time: 20 mins, total 30 mins.

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

• 2 small red onions or 1 large, sliced into thick strips

• 2 small red bell pepper or 1 large, sliced into thick strips

• 4 large vine or salad tomatoes, cut coarsely into quarters, here Chris uses Isle of Wight Tomatoes

• A generous handful of fresh basil, chopped (stalks included)

• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 2 pieces of cod loin (without skin)

• Salt to taste

• Sourdough or bread of your choosing, in thin slices

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan.
2. Once medium-hot, add the sliced garlic to the oil to infuse it with garlic flavours. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
3. Add your slices of onions to the garlic and oil and allow to simmer gently.
4. Add the sliced pepper and continue to cook gently. The onion will begin to go translucent, and the pepper will soften.
5. Once the pepper is softer, after about 10 minutes, add the quartered tomatoes. The tomatoes as they break down will add liquid to the dish, meaning you don’t need to add water.
6. Season the veg with salt as you go.
7. Add a splash of white wine vinegar for a touch of acidity.
8. Chop about a handful of fresh basil leaves and stem. Add the chopped stem and some of the leaves to the pan and reserve some of the leaves for garnish later on.
9. Gently place the fish pieces on top of the lightly simmering pan of vegetables and place a lid over the top. Allow the fish to steam in the sauce for 3-4 minutes.
10. While the fish is steaming, heat some olive oil in another frying pan. Drizzle some more oil over the sliced bread and add it to the pan. Allow it to toast for a couple of minutes on either side.
11. Once the fish is just cooked – and starting to flake apart – top with extra olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper and the leftover basil.
12. Serve this one pot Mediterranean fish with the toasted bread and enjoy!

Chris Baber has been a City Harvest Food Council member for 3 years.