Crumbed Hake Bake
A quick and tasty recipe for frozen white fish with a crunchy breadcrumb topping.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 600 g frozen Hake fillets
- fish seasoning
- 1 lemon, zested I zest the whole lemon, then cut it in half and juice the one half and cut the other half in slices for serving
- 3 slices white bread turned into crumbs I prefer using sturdy bread like sourdough or ciabatta. I leave the slices outside for a few hours to dry them out slightly and then blitz them in the food processor
- ¼ c fresh parsley, chopped Or about 1 T dried parsley
- 1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 50 g melted butter, margarine, plant butter or olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp hard cheese, grated Optional, or you can use digestive yeast
Instructions
- Defrost the fish fillets thoroughly before cooking.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Spray a medium-sized rectangular oven dish with non-stick spray or grease with butter.
- Pat the fish fillets dry and place them in the oven dish so that they fit snugly next to one another.
- Season with fish seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
- Drizzle with the juice of half a lemon.
- Combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and melted butter or oil and mix well.
- Season the bread crumb mixture well. I sometimes add fish seasoning into the crumb mixture as well as salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the crumbs over the prepared fish and top with grated hard cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the crumbs are golden brown.
Notes
- I have often been tempted to use the fish while still frozen and just cook it for longer. It is possible to do this, but you run the risk of having way too much liquid in the bottom of the bake and I therefore try to always use defrosted fish.
- People used to say you shouldn't serve fish and cheese together, but I find the grated hard cheese gives the crumb topping an added savoury taste and some nice crunch. Mixing digestive yeast in with the crumbs will do the same.
- You can also crush some potato crisps and mix that with your crumbs for an added flavour boost.
- This recipe is great for a week night supper when you want to cut down on calories. As the fish already have a carby crumb topping, you can serve it with veggies or salad and reduce the amount of starch in your meal without feeling "robbed" of any carby goodness.