Hake baked in yogurt and tahini

Diana Henry
·2-min read
Plate with hake and pitta
Try accompanying the hake with pitta bread, couscous or bulgur wheat - Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton

This is a simple dish, but you need to get certain things right. Get hake fillets that are all the same size. There’s nothing wrong with checking for how well done it is by sticking a fork in the middle – you can spread the tahini over the top again. Anyway, you have a few things to scatter on top, which will draw the eye away from any messy bits.

Requires soaking and marinating time.

Overview

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Serves

4

Ingredients

To serve

  • 40g currants

  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

  • small handful pine nuts, toasted

  • small bunch dill or coriander, or both, roughly chopped

  • 1 red chilli, halved then very finely sliced

  • olive oil, for frying

  • wedges of lemon

For the tahini topping

  • 70g tahini

  • 140g Greek yogurt

  • juice of ½ lemon

  • 2 garlic cloves, grated to a purée

  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper

  • 1 tsp ground cumin

For the fish

  • 10g coriander leaves

  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

  • ½ tsp ground cumin

  • ¼ tsp allspice

  • juice of 1 lemon

  • 4 hake fillets, about 125g each

Method

Step 1

Put 40g currants in a small pan and add 2 tbsp white wine vinegar. Bring to just under the boil, and then pull off the heat and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 210C/200C fan/gas mark 6½.

Step 3

In a bowl, mix together 70g tahini, 140g Greek yoghurt, juice of ½ lemon, 2 grated garlic cloves, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp cumin and about 2 tbsp water. This should be smooth and not too thick. Add as much water as you need.

Step 4

In another bowl, mix together 10g coriander leaves, 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, ½ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp allspice and the juice of ½ lemon, and then season.

Step 5

Put 4 hake fillets into a baking dish, placing them in a single layer. Spread the coriander mixture over the fillets and leave for about 10 minutes.

Step 6

Spoon the tahini mixture on top and bake for 20-25 minutes. You need to check the fish in the middle of the dish – you should be able to see how cooked it is. Squeeze the remaining juice of ½ lemon over the top.

Step 7

Spoon on the currants, a small handful of toasted pine nuts and a small bunch of roughly chopped dill or coriander. Lastly, fry finely sliced slivers of 1 red chilli in olive oil in a small pan. Pour this over the top and serve with wedges of lemon. This is lovely with pitta bread, couscous or bulgur wheat.

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