Pan fried sea bass or sea bream with chickpeas and tomato

Ingredients

• Whole sea bass / sea beam (preferred, but make sure this is fully gutted, with gills removed, and scales scraped off) or two fillets per person
• Cherry tomatoes
• Chickpeas
• Garlic
• Red onion
• Parsley
• Spinach
• Cumin
• Smoked paprika
• Mixed seeds

Method

Wash and drain tomatoes and parsley.

Finely chop red onion and garlic.

Grind cumin seeds.

Toast cumin seeeds for a moment in a frying pan, then add olive oil, garlic and onion. Fry on a low-medium heat until soft and starting to caramelise.

Add (whole) cherry tomatoes and chickpeas to pan and stir occasionally. If the cherry tomatoes are less ripe, they may need some help to split and start breaking down – but otherwise you can leave them to cook in their skin until they disintegrate. Once fish is cooked, stir in parsley, paprika and spinach and leave to simmer for another minute before serving.

Meanwhile, heat another frying pan to a high heat, add olive oil, then add sea bass / sea bream. Cooking time will vary depending on size – and fillets are much quicker than whole fish.

We tend to just cook one side (skin down) if cooking fillets – unless the frying pan non-stick surface is excellent there is a risk of destroying the fillets when you try to turn them over. If cooking a whole fish, it is important to fry both sides. In both cases a “splat guard” over the frying pan can help reduce mess – but get one that fits in the dishwasher. Once cooked, season with freshly ground black pepper and a slight pinch of salt.

Sprinkle mixed seeds before serving.