Ingredients

Serves 1

Crisp-fried fish

Olive oil, for deep-frying
Harina de trigo especial para freir, or fine-ground semolina
Sea salt
Allow about 200g mixed fish per person:
50g piece red mullet fillet, pinboned
A 1cm-thick, 75g steak of hake, whiting or sea bass, cut through the bone of a small fish
40g large, raw peeled prawns, with the last tail section of the shell still in place
30g prepared squid rings
Lemon wedges to serve

 

Seared Scallops with Lentils

Serves 4

100 g Puy lentils
2½ tbsp olive oil
12-16 large prepared scallops
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 medium-sized vine tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
½ tsp chopped mixed rosemary and thyme or large pinch dried herbes de Provence
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp mixed chopped parsley and basil
 

Method

Crisp-fried fish Malaga-style (Pescado frito)
Andalucía is known as the zona de los fritos, the seafront bars and restaurants of Huelva, Sanlucar, Cadiz and especially Malaga being renowned for their superb fried fish. I still remember years ago eating tiny red mullet and baby hake called pescadilla together with some gambas in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and drinking the local manzanilla sherry, which I swear tasted salty from the fact that it is matured in oak barrels right by the sea. It was all fabulous, though I recall a pang of guilt at the time that these tiny fish must be illegally caught. However, I subsequently found out that they weren’t illegal, they were just the least saleable. But even had they been illegal, this would be so much less disturbing than the reality that many fishermen today throw undersized and unwanted fish back into the water, dead. Here I’ve substituted thin steaks of small hake and fillets of red mullet for those tiny fish. If you cannot find the coarse flour called harina de trigo especial para freir, just use fine-ground semolina.

Heat some oil for deep-frying to 190°C.
Prepare the fish. Working with one person’s portion of fish at a time, season each piece well with salt and dredge heavily in the flour.
Give it a vigorous shake to remove the excess flour, then drop it into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden. Cook the red mullet, hake or other fish and prawns for 30 seconds, then add the squid to the oil and cook for a further 30 seconds, by which time all the fish should be cooked through. Lift the fish out of the oil as soon as it is ready, drain briefly on a baking tray lined with plenty of kitchen paper, and then arrange on a warmed serving plate. Garnish with the lemon wedges and serve as fast as you can while it is still piping hot, then go on to cook the next portion.


Seared Scallops with Lentils and a Tomato and Herbes de Provence Dressing
For the dressing, put 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil and the garlic into a small pan, and place over a medium-high heat. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the tomatoes and chopped rosemary and thyme, or herbes de Provence, and simmer for 10-12 minutes until well reduced and thick. Put the vinegar and sugar into another small pan and boil rapidly until reduced to 2 teaspoons. Stir into the tomato sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and set to one side.

Bring a pan of well-salted water to the boil (1 teaspoon per 600ml). Add the lentils and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, return to the pan with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil and some salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
Slice each scallop horizontally into 2 thinner discs, leaving the roe attached to one slice. Place in a shallow dish with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper and toss together well.
To finish the tomato dressing, add the remaining 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the lemon juice and some salt to taste and leave to heat through gently over a very low heat. Meanwhile, heat a dry, reliably non-stick frying pan over a high heat until smoking hot. Lower the heat slightly, add 1 teaspoon of oil and half the scallop slices and sear them for 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Lift onto a plate and repeat with the rest.
Divide the lentils between 4 warmed plates and arrange the scallop slices alongside. Stir the chopped basil and parsley into the warm tomato dressing, spoon some over and around the scallops and serve straight away