Dory On Fregola
Making fregola is a slow, meditative drag of water through semolina - and worth it. But store bought risoni or Israeli couscous will not offend anybody.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
For the fregola pasta
1 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup water
For the dory with fregola
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, or baby truss tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 anchovies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
zest and juice of 1 lemon, with 1 tablespoon of zest set aside
1/2 cup white wine
knob of cold butter
1/4 cup parmesan, finely grated
1 bunch English spinach, thoroughly rinsed
6 small dory fillets
METHOD
For the fregola, preheat the oven to 150C and place the semolina flour in a wide, shallow bowl.
Using one hand, sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the water over the flour. With your other hand, use the tips of your fingers to drag the water through the flour. Add a little more water as you keep dragging your fingers through, but not too much. It is a slow process, more than 15 minutes. Small irregular shaped balls will start to form as you continue dragging and stirring.
Once you have small, peppercorn sized fregola, no more than 1cm across, place them in a single layer on a baking tray.
Toast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until dry to the touch, then sift through a sieve to separate any tiny grains.
For the dory, preheat the oven to 200C. Toss the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the salt and place on a paper lined tray. Cook for 15 minutes, until slightly split.
Place a large frypan over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the parsley, anchovies and chilli flakes, toss well and cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the fregola in boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes, until al dente.
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and wine to the aromatic mix, then toss through the cold butter to emulsify.
Scoop the fregola straight from the boiling water into the frypan. Add the parmesan and toss well, then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the pasta water to loosen everything.
Place the fregola mix in a large warmed serving bowl.
In the now empty frypan, add the remaining olive oil and increase the heat to high. Add the spinach and toss until just wilted, less than a minute, then place on top of the fregola.
Sear the dory skin side down in the frypan for 3 minutes, using a fish weight to stop the fish curling. If you don't have a weight, use a saucepan full of water that sits inside the bigger pan.
Flip the fish once and sear the top side for 1 minute, then place on top of the spinach.
Add the roast tomatoes to the bowl, scatter with the reserved lemon zest and season well.
HINTS
You can substitute the fregola with store bought risoni or Israeli couscous, or any short pasta you like. Or rice.
Take the fregola straight from the water to the pan with a slotted spoon. The water clinging to it is doing the work of loosening the sauce.
A fish weight stops the fillets curling away from the heat. A saucepan of water sitting inside the pan does exactly the same job.
NUTRITION (per recipe total, serves 4 - guide only):
Energy: approximately 8000kJ (1900 calories)
Protein: 140g
Fat: 75g
Saturated fat: 25g
Carbohydrates: 140g
Sugars: 12g
Fibre: 12g
Sodium: 7000mg
Note: most of the tablespoon of salt is used to roast the tomatoes and season the pasta water, so actual sodium per serve is lower.
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.