This is a supremely healthy dish using mackerel, a fish that's fairly inexpensive and easy to find, but which you could substitute with sardines, tuna or even red mullet, depending on your palate.
The dressing, chermoula, is a marinade used in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking. It is typically used with fish or seafood but can also be used on meat or vegetables.
Grilled mackerel with chermoula
Serves 4
100ml extra virgin olive oil
15g ground coriander
10g ground cumin
10g smoked paprika
0.5g saffron
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon
50g fresh coriander
20g fresh parsley
1 green chilli
4 whole mackerel, gutted and washed
50ml olive oil
Set the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
Add the extra virgin olive oil, ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika and saffron to a medium-sized mixing bowl, then peel and finely chop the garlic cloves and add them to the bowl.
Take the lemon and grate the zest finely, then squeeze out the juice and add both to the bowl. Finely chop the coriander, parsley and green chilli, then add them to the bowl before mixing well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the mackerel on a large baking tray and pour the regular olive oil over them, massaging it into the skin. Season the fillets lightly with salt, then place them in the oven. After 8 minutes pour the dressing over the fish and return them to the oven for a further 2 minutes.
Remove the mackerel from the oven and transfer them to a warm serving dish. Spoon the warm dressing from the tray over the mackerel and serve with a crisp, lightly dressed salad.
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