Pan Fried Sea Bream with Pomegranate and Fennel

Fresh and fishy...

This recipe sounds fancy but it's actually very simple. Essentially you have a basic white rice with pan fried white fish but that's a bit dull on it's own. By adding caramelised fennel, pomegranate, lemon and parsley it bumps the flavour and adds a fresh, crunchy twist with minimal additional effort. This recipe is from episode 13 of my Day of Eating video series.

Servings: 1

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 35 Minutes

Bulk Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of fresh sea bream

• 100-150g white rice

• 30-40g butter

• 2 garlic clove

• 1 finger chilli

• 2 fennel heads

• 2-4 tbsp pomegranate seeds

• 1 lemon

• Handful of fresh parsley

Spices:

• Salt & pepper

Method:

Firstly prepare the fennel by removing the stalks and base before halving and slicing into 0.5cm wide pieces. Add the fennel to a saucepan with the butter and bring to a medium-high heat.

Once the butter has melted reduce slightly to medium heat and leave to caramelise stirring every 5 minutes.

Once the fennel has been sautéing for 20 minutes, it's time to cook the rice and fish. Place the rice into a saucepan then add 3x the weight of rice in water (eg 300g of water for 100g of rice). For creamier rice add an additional chunk of butter however this is optional. Place the rice on high heat and bring to a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer for 10-12 minutes. When the rice is cooking, finely dice the garlic and chilli.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat and oil well. Once the skillet is hot, place the fillets skin side down in the pan and sprinkle over the garlic and chilli.

Leave the fillets to fry for 3-5 minutes skin side down. Ideally the majority of the fillet should be cooked and the skin crisped. Then flip the fillets to skin side up and leave for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Finally serve with a rice base, placing the fennel and fish on top. Finish with a generous sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, diced parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Enjoy!