Halibut With Spicy Mash And Samphire

Halibut is the largest flatfish in the ocean and I am using it for this halibut with spicy mash and samphire dish.

Halibut is undoubtedly a bit of a treat as it is quite an expensive type of fish. It has a firm and meaty texture and is really delicious. 

It's very important though, not to over-cook it as that really ruins the taste of it. I have all the other parts of this dish ready before I cook the fish.

Halibut is a good source of certain vitamins and minerals, including selenium which is an important antioxidant.

I like to serve this fish with a spicy butternut squash and sweet potato mash, tenderstem broccoli (broccolini) and top with salty and very healthy samphire. 

Samphire is a sea vegetable and it is a very good source of many important minerals, including calcium and magnesium, vitamins and fibre.

Halibut and spicy mash for 4 people:

1 small butternut squash, peeled, halved, de-seeded and diced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cayenne pepper

3 spring onions (scallions), chopped

Tenderstem broccoli, or use ordinary broccoli - as much as you like as this is a super-healthy, low-calorie vegetable

50g, 1¾oz, samphire 

4 halibut fillets, skin on

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1. Start by pre-heating the oven to 200C/Fan180C/400F/Gas mark 6. Place the diced butternut squash and sweet potato in an oven-proof dish and toss with one tablespoon olive oil. Place the dish in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes - until the vegetables are soft.
2. Once the squash and sweet potato are cooked, add them to a pot together with the salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper and use a potato masher to crush them. Stir in the spring onions (scallions), cover the pot with a lid and keep the mash warm over a low heat.
3. Get some water boiling in another pot and then add the broccoli and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the samphire to the pot and continue to simmer for a further minute. Turn off the heat, drain the vegetables in a colander, return them to the pot and cover the pot with a lid to keep them warm.
4. Add 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil to a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Use kitchen towel to pat each halibut fillet dry. Once the butter start to brown, place the fillets skin-side down in the frying pan and fry, without moving the fish, for 3 minutes. carefully turn over each fillet and fry for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

Divide the mash between four plates, place a halibut fillet on top of the mash and some samphire on top of the fish. Divide the broccoli between the plates and serve immediately.

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