MIKEY BELL

My mother, while a great cook, is not an adventurous one and often sticks with ingredients she is familiar with.

So, when I presented the idea of serving her fish with a crust of garam masala and ‘nduja, that thick Calabrian salami and chilli paste, she was a bit cautious. My mother stared bizarrely at the brashly orange ‘nduja paste. I smiled back because I knew I was about to convert her.

And I think a few people have been converted on this website actually. In my Food Talk newsletter many moons ago, I published a recipe for Beef & ‘Nduja Ragù which surprisingly became one of my most popular recipes on this blog, alongside my Coca Cola Cabbage, Welsh Cakes, and Cardamom & Mandarin Yogurt Cake.

It shocked me because I thought ‘nduja would be a hard sell for those who had never had it, but alas, every month, it sits within the top 3 most visited recipes on this site, so I felt it necessary to show how else I put that fabulous paste to good use.

And that’s with fish.

‘Nduja has a dense, spicy and almost acidic bite and the closest I can think to describe it is to imagine a spreadable chorizo and you’re halfway there. And it’s no secret how fish fried in bacon fat takes it to a higher plane, so imagine the plane it’s flown to when covered in this paste.

Some rocket and a few chopped, oiled and salted tomatoes would be perfect on the side of this, but I also like to serve a big bowl of buttery Herby Pistachio Couscous.

This is nothing more than 200g of couscous poured into a bowl with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pour over 200ml of water from a recently boiled kettle and cover the bowl with a bigger plate or some cling film. Leave this to swell up while you get on with the fish, stirring through a handful of bashed pistachios and a handful of chopped herbs – whatever you fancy – just before serving.

Serves 2

50g ‘nduja paste

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 clove garlic

1 orange

1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

2 slices of stale white bread

1 egg

2 thick pieces skinless white fish (haddock or cod would be great)

Generous handfuls of rocket (to serve)

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C
2. In a bowl, combine the ‘nduja paste with the garam masala. Grate in the garlic and orange zest before halving the orange and squeezing in the juice. Mind the pips.
3. Add the chopped rosemary with a little salt and a generous grind of pepper.
4. Ideally you would blitz the stale bread in a processor to create breadcrumbs, but if you don’t have a processor just chop them up as finely, finely, finely as you can. Add your crumbs – crusts and all – to the fragrant ‘nduja paste.
5. Crack in the egg and fork everything together to create a thick paste.
6. Lay your pieces of fish on a baking tray. Using your hands (or a spoon if your squeamish) divide the paste in half and carefully press on top of the fish to create a proud coat for them.
7. Salt them gently and slide in the oven for 20 minutes.
8. If you are making the couscous (see introduction), now would be a good time to get started on that.
9. Once the fish has had its time, take out of the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before carefully spatula’ing them on to plates of a waiting tangle of rocket.