Coley is a much underrated fish, being cheap and readily available. It’s a great alternative to cod and goes well with this simple, slightly spiced stew of courgettes.

Roasted Coley with Saffron Courgettes

Serves 4

Ingredients

4x 150g coley fillets (skin on)

4 courgettes

100g butter

100g olive oil

100g vegetable oil

0.5g saffron

100g chicken stock

1 white onion

4 garlic cloves

1 sprig thyme

100g white wine

1 lemon

2g ground cumin

Method

Start by cutting the courgettes in half, then peel and slice the onion and garlic cloves as finely as possible.

Take a large saucepan and add the butter, place on a medium heat and add the onion, garlic and thyme. Allow this

to sweat gently until the ingredients are soft and translucent, then add the courgettes and cumin and cover with a lid.

Sweat the courgettes slowly, stirring every five minutes until they are soft and starting to break down – this will take about ten minutes. Once the courgettes are soft, remove the lid and add the white wine, and continue to cook for five minutes until three-quarters of the liquid has evaporated.

Next add the saffron and chicken stock and continue to cook for a further ten minutes until the mixture has come together to a thick saucy consistency before placing to one side to keep warm.

Now cook the fish. Take a large frying pan and add the vegetable oil, and heat over a medium heat. Season the fish well with table salt and make sure that the skin is dry. Place the fish skin side down in the pan and continue to cook over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the fish is cooked (you can tell this by the colour change of the flesh up the side of the fish), making sure the skin turns light golden before turning onto the flesh side for 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from the heat and cut the lemon in half, squeeze the lemon juice into the pan and move the fish around in this.

Finish the dish by placing a generous spoonful of the courgettes onto plates, top with the fish and drizzle the olive oil over it.