Baked Hake

Seaweed and olives make a lovely combination in a tapenade. Okay,
a black olive is not very “local and wild” to Sussex, but for every rule there must be exceptions. This is a stunning dish, both visually and in terms of flavour – the strong umami flavour of the tapenade on succulent hake fillets works really well with the rich nettle tang of the white butter sauce.

Ingredients for 4
500g Hake fillet, cut into 4 pieces
Oil, for greasing

For the tapenade
50g Dulse seaweed, chopped, plus extra for garnish
50g pitted Black Olives
20g Capers
A small slice of Sourdough bread, stale if possible
1 Garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 Lemon, zest and juice
Freshly ground Black Pepper
20ml virgin Rapeseed oil

For the nettle white butter sauce
150ml Crème Fraiche
1 tbsp Tarragon Vinegar
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1⁄2 tsp Caster Sugar
40g Butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
Young Nettle Leaves, finely chopped

Method

• First, make the tapenade. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse briefly to chop – but don’t blend to a purée. Set aside for the crust.

• Prepare the butter sauce. Put the crème fraiche, vinegar, lemon juice and sugar in a small pan over a gentle heat, and slowly heat until melted – but do not boil.

• Put the butter in a mixing bowl, then pour the hot cream mixture over and stir until the butter has melted. Add the chopped nettles, season with salt and pepper and keep warm (or reheat when needed).

• Spread the tapenade across the top of each piece of hake. Place the fish pieces on an oiled ovenproof dish and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for 8 minutes.

Plate the hake, spoon the nettle butter alongside and garnish with some extra seaweed on top.