Pan fried pollock with wild garlic and crispy air-dried ham

Spring

Wild garlic is one of the real joys of early spring. From March onwards its bright green leaves begin to appear in shady woodland and along damp hedgerows, filling the air with that unmistakable scent of fresh garlic. It’s a wonderful ingredient to cook with at this time of year. The leaves can be used raw or cooked and work beautifully stirred through pasta, folded into omelettes, added to soups, or simply chopped into salads and sandwiches. Later in the season the delicate white flowers appear, and these are edible too, offering a milder but still distinctive garlic flavour.

Here the leaves are quickly wilted in butter alongside crisp pieces of air dried ham and served with pan fried pollock. Pollock is a brilliant fish to cook with, sustainable, affordable and full of flavour, and its firm white flesh works particularly well with the savoury richness of ham and the gentle warmth of wild garlic. It’s a simple dish, but one that really celebrates the first fresh flavours of the season.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pieces of pollock fillet about 150g each, skin on
4 thin slices of air dried ham
1 small bunch of wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
15g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Set a medium sized frying pan over a medium high heat and add the butter and olive oil. Season the pollock fillets well with salt and pepper. When the butter begins to foam, lay the fish in the pan skin side down and press them gently so the skin sits flat against the pan.

Cook for a minute or two, allowing the skin to crisp nicely. Tear the slices of ham into rough pieces and scatter them around the fish. Let them fry in the butter, turning once or twice until they begin to crisp at the edges.

Add the chopped wild garlic to the pan. It will wilt quickly in the hot buttery juices, releasing its soft garlicky aroma. Carefully turn the fish over and cook for a further minute or so on the second side, just until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily when pressed with the tip of a knife.

Serve the fish straight away with the buttery ham and wilted wild garlic spooned over the top. It’s perfect with some early new potatoes, a simple green salad and plenty of good bread to mop up the pan juices.

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