Poached Skate Wings With Tomatoes And Olive Oil Food

ROASTED SKATE WING RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6). Toss the cherry tomatoes and chilli in 1 tbsp of olive oil and roast in a large roasting pan for 10 minutes. Season the skate wings with salt and pepper and then transfer to the roasting pan, moving the tomatoes to one side. Roast for a further 15 minutes or so, or until the flesh can be lifted away from the cartilage.
• Make the dressing by whisking the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and capers. Pour over the fish and tomatoes. Return to the oven for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the lemon, tomatoes and pan juices.

POACHED SKATE WINGS WITH TOMATOES AND OLIVE OIL

Steps:

• In an enamel, stainless steel or anodized aluminum skillet large enough to hold the skate wings in a single layer, simmer the wine with the onion and bay leaf for a few minutes. Add the vinegar.
• Place the skate wings in the wine mixture and simmer until they just turn opaque, six to eight minutes. Remove the fish from the liquid and cut each skate wing into two portions. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• To serve, place the skate wings on a serving platter or individual plates and season each with salt and pepper. Top with tomatoes, scallions, basil and capers. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

POACHED SKATE WITH WARM TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• To poach the fish, bring 1.5 litres/2¾ pints of water to the boil in a large shallow saucepan or frying pan. Add the salt and lower in the skate wings. Reduce the heat and simmer the fish for 10 minutes, or until just cooked.
• Meanwhile, to make the warm tomato vinaigrette, warm the oil, vinegar and red onion in a small frying pan. After a few minutes, turn off the heat and add the tomato, capers and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve the skate with the warm vinaigrette spooned over the top and some green beans on the side.

SPAGHETTI WITH OLIVE-OIL-POACHED TUNA IN TOMATO-FENNEL SAUCE

Steps:

• FOR THE TUNA
• Add the fennel seeds to a small sauté pan and bring to medium-high heat. (You need toasted fennel seeds for both the tuna and the sauce, so toss 2 tablespoons in the pan now and save a step later!) Toast the fennel seeds, shaking the pan frequently, until they are very aromatic and start to turn a brighter shade of green, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and grind the seeds in a spice grinder or crush with a mortar and pestle.
• Season the tuna belly with salt, red pepper, and half the ground fennel seeds (you're saving the other half for the sauce).
• Preheat the oven to 200°F.
• Put the tuna in a medium ovenproof saucepan and cover with olive oil. Toss in the garlic, bay leaves, and thyme bundle. Cover and put in the oven; cook for 1 hour. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container.
• FOR THE SAUCE AND PASTA
• Coat a large wide saucepan with olive oil and add the onions and fennel; season with salt and red pepper and bring to medium heat. Cook the veggies until soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, the reserved tablespoon of toasted fennel seeds, and 1 cup water to the pan and season with salt. Bring to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS); simmer for 30 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package suggest. Taste it: It should be toothsome with just a little nugget of hard pasta still in the center-this is al dente.
• Remove the tuna from the olive oil, break it up, and add it to the sauce.
• Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce; stir vigorously to combine. Add a drizzle of big fat finishing oil and serve garnished with fennel fronds.
• YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SAN MARZANO
• San Marzano tomatoes are, as the name suggests, from San Marzano, Italy, outside of Naples. Sweet and delicious, these canned tomatoes are naturally very low in acid. Sometimes you'll notice people add a pinch of sugar to tomatoes when making sauce-this is not to sweeten the sauce so much as to offset the acid in the tomatoes. When you're using San Marzano tomatoes, this isn't necessary because they're naturally super-sweet and low in acid. However, for this same reason, they need a lot of salt to bring out their best flavor . . . accept it and move on.
• San Marzano tomatoes are perfect for sauce, and they work beautifully with my favorite piece of kitchen equipment: the food mill. It's super-old school but I love using a food mill to purée tomatoes because it lets the seeds slip through, leaving all the big-money stuff up top. Remember, when you put your tomatoes through a food mill, be sure to scrape the pulp off the bottom to get every last bit of tomato-y goodness! This is the stuff that will help thicken the sauce, so you don't want to leave it behind. Got it?