Baked fish with pea puree

Frozen white fish is a handy standby and when cooked in a paper bag, the buttery, lemony juices are locked in for full flavour. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 4 (about 600g) frozen white fish fillets, thawed
• 2 shallots, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
• 1 tbs butter, cut into 4 pieces
• Sea salt flakes, to serve
• Lemon wedges (optional), to serve

• Pea puree

• 250ml (1 cup) hot chicken stock
• 1 x 500g pkt frozen baby peas
• 2 tsp dried chopped onion
• 1 tbs butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Rub 4 brown paper bags inside and out with oil to grease. Rub the lemon rind and lemon juice over the fish. Divide the fish among the bags. Top with shallot and butter. Place the bags on a large baking tray. Fold in the ends and tuck under to seal. Bake for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, to make the pea puree, bring the stock, peas and onion to the boil in a medium saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the stock. Return the peas to the pan. Add the butter and use a stick blender to process, adding a little of the reserved stock if necessary, until a coarse puree forms. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Divide the pea puree among serving plates. Top with the fish and drizzle over the juices. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Notes

Cook's tip: Paper bags are porous, so to seal in the cooking juices, you need to grease them in step 1. If the bags have a side seam, place seam-side up to prevent juices escaping. Storage tip: Store leftover reserved stock in the fridge for up to 1 week. Use in soups.