Smoked butter beans with hake recipe

We all need to eat more beans, said Charlie Bigham: they are nutritious and delicious. For this fish recipe, I have used a jar of butter beans, but of course you can prepare dried beans ahead of time if you prefer. Serve with crusty bread and a lightly dressed salad if the weather is warm, or freshly cooked greens if it’s cold.

Ingredients:

• For the beans: 
• 4 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 
• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika 
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes 
• 200g tomato passata
• 700g jar of large or queen butter beans (Bold Bean Co's are particularly good) 
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
• For the hake:
• 1½ tbsp olive oil 
• 4 x 150-200g hake fillets, or other white fish fillets 
• juice of ½ a lemon
• flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped 
• crusty bread, to serve 

Method:

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• Start by making the beans. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large shallow casserole, sauté pan or deep frying pan with a lid and fry the onions and celery gently for 10 minutes, or until softened and beginning to brown, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes more, stirring frequently.
• Pour the rest of the oil into the pan and add the paprika. Cook for a minute, stirring constantly.
• Next, add the tomatoes, passata and the beans, with all their liquid. Season with lots of pepper; you shouldn’t need extra salt as the beany liquid will already be fairly salty. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Meanwhile, place a frying pan over a medium- high heat, add the 1½ tbsp of oil and then the fish, skin-side down. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Carefully flip the fish over, add a dash more oil and cook for a further 4 minutes, or until pale golden and almost cooked through.
• Lift the fish gently onto the cooked beans, cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for a further 4-5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked: it should be firm but ready to flake into large pieces if prodded.
• Take off the heat, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and the lemon juice, and scatter lots of chopped parsley on top. Serve with crusty bread.

Taken from "Supper With Charlie Bigham: Favourite Food for Family & Friends", published by Octopus at £26. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99 (incl. p&p), call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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