roasted halibut with chermoula sauce

roasted halibut with chermoula marinade

One of my favourite marinades is from Morocco. There are hundreds of variations of chermoula, a marinade typically used with fish, which is essentially a mixture of oil, herbs and spices which can be used with whole, filleted or grilled fish.

What you need is a good balance between the sharpness of lemon and sweetness of the honey. The herbs and spices should be quite subtle and aromatic rather than punchy. But whichever way you cook the fish, roasted, steamed or fried, it will taste fabulous as it absorbs these flavours.

While halibut has quite a delicate flavour, it's moist, flakiness stood up to the marinade really well. However, cod, haddock or bream would be excellent too. It also delicious with fresh mackerel.

Serves 4
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
4 x halibut fillets, each weighing about 180g, skin left on
chermoula marinade
1 x shallot, very finely chopped
2-3 x garlic cloves, very finely chopped
a small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
a small handful fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
a pinch of Aleppo pepper (or chilli flakes)
1 tsp paprika
a quarter tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 / Gas Mark 6.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the chermoula marinade together. If you want a well-blended result then use a food processor.
3. Spread all of the chermoula marinade bar about 2 tablespoons over the fish fillets, making sure that both sides are well-coated, and leave to marinade for at least 15 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Bake the halibut for about 10 to 12 minutes, depending on their thickness, until the fish is cooked through.
5. Place a fish fillet on top and spoon over any of the cooking juices together with the remainder of the uncooked chermoula marinade.