With Christmas fast approaching you might start to wonder about what to eat over the festive season. It’s a tradition in our house that we have fish on Christmas Eve. As I love to experiment with food and meals we eat I have been back in my kitchen. Normally on Christmas Eve we enjoy a delicious piece of salmon that over the years has been cooked in a variety of ways.
This year I’ve decided to try a different fish and I think we will be eating mackerel on Christmas eve. I always like to test a dinner on my family before making my final decision. We don’t tend to eat mackerel a lot so I thought it would make a yummy change. The fish is not one you can add a lot of flavour too but I know from past experience that smoked mackerel is delicious so I added smokey flavourings to this dish and it was so tasty. Of course I had to share the recipe with you.
Do you like mackerel and if so, what’s your favourite mackerel dish? Let me know in the comments and please don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe.
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Vegetable grater
- Baking tray
- Saucepan
- Tablespoon
- Teaspoon
- Stirring spoon
Ingredients
- Mackerel x 4 fillets
- Onion x 1
- Yellow pepper x 1
- Courgette x 1
- Tomatoes x 1 400g tin
- Tomato puree x 2tbsp
- Tamari or soy sauce x 2 tbsp
- Cashew nut cream cheese x 1/2 portion
- Smoked paprika x 1 – 2 tsp
- Ground ginger x 1- 2 tsp
- Ground sweet cinnamon x 1/2 – 1 tsp
- Dried oregano x 1 tsp
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pasta x 300g
- Coriander x 2 large handfuls
Method
- Make the cashew nut cream cheese.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or gas mark 5 depending on your oven.
- Once the oven is preheat put the mackerel onto the baking trays and cook for about 12 – 15 minutes or until the fish flakes away from itself.
- Peel, slice and dice the onion.
- Cut the top from the pepper and remove the core and stalk.
- Now slice and dice the flesh.
- Peel and grate the courgette and set these ingredient aside.
- Put the saucepan onto a high heat on the hob and add oil to the base of the pan.
- When the pan is hot add the onions and fry until they start to soften.
- Add in the pepper and fry until these start to soften.
- If the pan gets to hot, turn the heat down to a medium heat and add a little bit of water.
- Add in the courgettes and continue to fry for a further 5 minutes.
- Next sprinkle over the smoked paprika, ground ginger, ground sweet cinnamon and dried oregano.
- Fry for a further minute or so then add in the tomatoes and cashew nut cream cheese.
- Add in the tomato puree and tamari or soy sauce and stir these ingredients in.
- Bring all these ingredients to the boil and then turn the heat down and leave to simmer.
- Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.
- Once the mackerel has cooked remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool.
- When it’s cool enough to touch remove the flesh from the skin and take out any bones you may find as well.
- Flake the mackerel into the sauce and stir all these ingredients together.
- Sprinkle over salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and stir again.
- Chop the coriander and add to the pan and mix in.
- Finally serve and enjoy.
Smokey and Creamy Mackerel Pasta was a hit with my son Ted and I. My husband Howard wasn’t so keen. The dish was very easy to prepare and cook. The sauce could be made in advance of the meal and stored in the freezer. It could also be made with rice as well. However you decide to eat this dish, as always, please enjoy. Thank you xxx
Googies Kitchen Life 