Mackerel and green bean salad with harissa dressing
Commercial harissa varieties can vary. If yours isn't very spicy, add a bit of cayenne pepper to it to enhance the kick.
4 people
Serving size
Ingredients
1 medium baguette, crusts removed, torn into 2cm chunks (110g net)
1 tsp ground turmeric, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water
230ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
6 mackerel fillets, cut widthways into 2cm slices (350g net)
1 gem lettuce, leaves torn into large pieces
1 small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced (90g net)
3 Romano peppers, roasted, cooled, deseeded and cut into 2cm slices, or use commercially roasted peppers from a tin or a jar
50g dried black olives, pitted and torn in half
200g French beans, trimmed, blanched for 4 minutes, refreshed and drained well
50g harissa paste
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp parsley leaves, roughly chopped
4 semi-hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
Salt and black pepper
Method
- Place the baguette pieces in a medium mixing bowl and toss with your hand as you slowly pour in the turmeric water, trying to get all the bread pieces lightly stained with turmeric. Set aside.
- Put 200 millilitres of the olive oil in a large sauté pan and put it on a medium heat. Fry the mackerel pieces in 2 batches, for 1-2 minutes, until they are slightly curled and cooked through. Lift out of the oil with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper, lightly season with salt and black pepper and set aside. Next add the baguette pieces to the hot oil, frying them as you stir for 3-4 minutes, until crunchy and golden-brown. Remove from the oil with the slotted spoon and place next to the fish to cool down. Don’t discard the remaining oil.
- In a large mixing bowl put together the lettuce, red onion, peppers, olives and beans. Add the fish, croutons, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a healthy grind of black pepper. Toss gently and then transfer into a large and shallow serving bowl.
- Whisk the harissa in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and the lemon juice. Spoon this over the salad, sprinkle over the parsley and finally dot with the egg. Finish the salad with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and another drizzle of olive oil.