Fish bites, wedges and peas
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
An easy alternative to processed fish fingers and chips that the family will love. Delicious chunks of fish in a crisp crumb served with homemade potato wedges. The key to this dinner is to serve it quickly, before the steam from the fish begins to soften the golden crumb.
Ingredients
- 1 large free-range egg
- 75g/2½oz Parmesan, finely grated
- 75g/2½oz ground almonds
- 1 tsp paprika (not smoked)
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 400g/14oz thick skinless fish fillets, such as cod loin, cut into 2.5cm/1in chunks
For the potato wedges
- 3 large floury potatoes (around 750g/1lb 10oz), preferably Maris Piper, cut into wedges (see cook’s tips)
- 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- cooked peas or mixed vegetables
- lemon wedges
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. If you don’t have a really large baking tray, use two smaller trays instead and cook the fish above the potatoes.
To make the potato wedges, fill a large saucepan one-third full with just-boiled water and return to the boil. Add the potatoes, return to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and allow to stand for a couple of minutes to dry a little. Return to the saucepan.
Toss the potatoes with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on the baking tray in rows, skin-side up (if you put them skin-side up, they won’t need to be turned) and bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the Parmesan, almonds, paprika, thyme and a little black pepper in a second bowl, then scatter half this mixture over a large plate. Tip the flour into a third bowl.
Toss the fish pieces one at a time in the flour until lightly dusted, then dip into the egg and finally coat all over in the Parmesan crumb. Top-up the crumbs on the plate when the first batch is finished. Place the fish pieces on a board or large platter as you coat them.
Take the baking tray with the potatoes out of the oven and add the fish bites. Bake together for 15 minutes or until the fish bites are pale golden-brown and cooked through. Serve with peas or mixed vegetables and lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Recipe tips
Use 3–4 large, fairly long potatoes to make the best-shaped wedges. To prepare them, put the potatoes on a board and cut in half lengthways. Cut in half lengthways again. Cut each quarter into three wedges to make 12 potato wedges in total. You can miss out the par-boiling step if you want to (see recipe), but the potatoes won’t brown as well.
Cold-pressed rapeseed oil is made with minimal processing and has a milder flavour than extra virgin olive oil.
Swap the Parmesan for any similar hard cheese, such as Grana Padano. Or use any thick, white fish fillets instead of cod.
To make easy mushy peas, first cook frozen peas in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Drain, return to the pan and add a large knob of butter and a small handful of fresh mint leaves. Blitz with a stick blender until almost smooth and season with a little salt and pepper.
