Baked Mackerel with Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes

Fish

1. Fillet the mackerel. The mackerel needs to be thawed, and it is better not to do this in water, as many people think, but simply to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator overnight. Then wash the mackerel and cut off the head and tail.

   

   Gut the fish and remove the black membrane lining the whole belly cavity. Cut the fillets from the fish. Carefully remove all the large bones and fins. Cut the fillets into 3 cm wide pieces across the body.

   

2. Make the spice mix: grind salt, mixed peppercorns and dried aromatic herbs in a mortar, in equal parts. You need about 1.5 tsp of the mix in total. You can keep the rest in an airtight jar, although I think it is better to make exactly enough spices for one cooking.

3. Lay all the cut mackerel in a single layer on a plate, skin side down. Sprinkle the fillets with the spices and leave for 30 mins.

   

Vegetables

4. Boil the green peas: bring 1 l of water to a boil in a saucepan, add a scant teaspoon of sugar (4 g) and cook the peas for 10-15 mins. The peas should become soft but not fall apart. The sugar in the water keeps the peas from losing their wonderful green color. Transfer the boiled peas to a separate dish.

   

5. Prepare the tomatoes and pepper. Pull the cherry tomatoes off the vine, trying not to damage them. Wash them and set aside. Slice the red pepper. If the pepper has a long pod, it is better to cut it into rings up to 5 mm wide, removing the seeds. If the peppers are round, you can cut them into strips or slices.

   

Frying

6. Fry the mackerel: pour olive oil into a skillet, heat it and fry the prepared fish on both sides until golden brown. Frying time is 2-3 mins. An important point: start frying on the flesh side, not the skin side, or the fish pieces will curl into tubes. Set the fried fish aside.

   

7. In the same skillet over medium heat, fry the onion cut into strips until golden. It’s fine if the onion starts to darken slightly at the edges. Such fried onion is very tasty and even sweet. In childhood, fried onion with fresh bread was a real treat. I confess I couldn’t resist even now and made myself a sandwich. I only salted it a little.

   

8. Set the fried onion aside and fry the pepper in the skillet until soft. You can cover the skillet with a lid and fry over medium heat for 10-15 mins, stirring.

   

Baking

9. Layer everything in the dishes. Lightly grease the ceramic dishes with vegetable oil and put the fried red pepper in them. Put whole cherry tomatoes on top.

   

   Add all the fried fish, trying to lay it in a single, even layer.

   

   Scatter the boiled green peas on top.

   I think someone will ask: why the peas? I’ll answer: I simply love green peas, but not the canned kind in jars with that strange olive color, just normal green peas. They even taste different. They are ideal for the beloved Olivier salad. We haven’t bought canned peas for a very long time, preferring to boil frozen ones. Plain green peas, even with no additions, make an excellent side dish for meat and fish. See for yourself. Then again, I don’t insist. Let’s say green peas are optional.

   

   Sprinkle everything with 1-2 pinches of the spice mix prepared earlier. Spread the fried onion over the top in an even layer. Press everything down lightly, trying not to overdo it and crush the tomatoes.

   

10. Bake: pour 2 tbsp of dry white wine into each dish. Put the dishes, uncovered, into an oven preheated to 220°C for 30 mins. During this time the vegetables in the dishes will settle slightly.

    

Serving

11. Put the finished vegetables with fish on a plate and garnish with parsley leaves. When transferring them to the plate, try not to crush the cherry tomatoes, they should stay whole.

    

    If you like, you can serve baked or boiled potatoes as a side dish. Then again, vegetables with fish are two in one. The vegetable side dish is part of the dish. Vegetables baked with fish are served only hot.