“There are certain vegetables that are made to go together, and artichokes and broad beans are one such pair.”
James Walters is executive chef and co-founder of the Arabica Food & Spice Company
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 sea bass fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
Dill sprigs to garnish
For the artichoke and broad bean salad
200g broad beans
4 whole cooked artichoke hearts
1 preserved lemon
2 spring onions
½ garlic clove, peeled
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sumac
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 To pod the broad beans, drop them into a pan of simmering water for 2 minutes, drain and refresh in cold water. Then peel off their thin skins using your thumbnail or a small sharp knife.
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2 Trim the bases of the artichoke hearts slightly, just enough so that they sit on your plate without rolling around. Cut the preserved lemon into quarters, remove the flesh with a sharp paring knife and discard and then finely slice the zest.
3 Finely slice the green parts of the spring onions so you end up with lots of tiny discs. Discard the white parts.
4 Put the garlic in a pestle and mortar, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper and purée, gradually adding the olive oil. Gently mix the preserved lemon zest slices, spring onions, broad beans and sumac with the garlic infusion.
5 Wash and pat dry the sea bass fillets and portion them into 4 even pieces. Sprinkle the skin with a pinch of sea salt. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based non-stick frying pan and once it’s hot add the fish, skin-side down. Cook for 2 minutes until the skin becomes crispy, turn and cook for a further minute.
6 Place one artichoke heart in the centre of each plate and spoon in the dressed broad beans until they begin to overflow. Place a piece of sea bass on top of each overflowing artichoke heart. Serve garnished with dill.
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Recipe taken from The Real Food Cookbook, edited by Valentina Harris (Duncan Baird Publishers £20), available for £16, free p&p, www.thetimes.com/books
The Real Food Festival is at Earls Court from 5-8 May. For tickets please visit www.realfoodfestival.co.uk