Bombay fish finger sandwich with tomato Caesar salad
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
A crunchy Bombay mix crumb and curred tartare sauce make for a flavour-packed spin on a classic fish finger sarnie.
Ingredients
For the fish fingers
- 100g Bombay mix
- 200g/7oz white fish fillets (cod is the classic choice)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
For the curried tartare sauce
- 1 tbsp gherkins, finely chopped, plus extra, sliced, for sandwich
- 1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 100g/3¼oz mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 150g/5½oz crusty stale bread
- 100g/3¼oz thick-cut bacon or lardons, cut into thick pieces
- 500g/1lb 2oz tomatoes
- 4 anchovies in oil, plus more to serve
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 50g/1¾oz Parmesan, plus more to serve
- 50ml/2fl oz extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large handful of fresh basil leaves
- salt
To serve
- 4 thick slices white bread
- 4 leaves of butter lettuce
- 4 tbsp mango chutney
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. To make the fish, use a food processor to pulse the Bombay mix into large crumbs – keep the texture coarse, not fine.
Cut the fish into finger-length pieces.
Grab three bowls and put the flour in one, beaten egg in another, the processed Bombay mix in the last. Season the flour and egg bowls lightly with salt.
Coat each piece of fish in the flour, then the egg and finally the Bombay mix, being sure to press the coating on to the fish. Place the coated fish on a baking sheet and bake for 8–10 minutes, or until just cooked through.
To make the salad, tear the bread into large chunks. Add these to a tray with the bacon and drizzle over the oil from the anchovy jar. Add the tray to the hot oven for 15 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Meanwhile, make the curried tartare sauce. Combine the chopped gherkins, capers, green chilli and coriander in a bowl and grate in the garlic. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder. Mix well, and season with salt and pepper.
Return to the salad. Chop the tomatoes into large chunks and toss them in a bowl with a large pinch of salt. Leave them to sit for 5 minutes.
Finely chop the anchovies, then mash them with the knife to form a paste. Put this into a bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar. Add the grated garlic and the Parmesan. Finally, whisk in the olive oil. Add this dressing to the tomatoes.
Once the croutons have cooled, add them, along with the bacon, to the tomatoes and mix together very well so that the bread can absorb the dressing. Throw in the fresh basil leaves last of all, top with extra whole anchovies, add a sprinkling of Parmesan.
To serve, spread the curried tartare sauce over two slices of bread. To the other two slices, add the lettuce, fish, chutney and extra sliced gherkins. Sandwich it all together, and serve immediately alongside the salad.
