Roast bream with artichokes, onions, smoked bacon & thyme

Winter

It is winter. As I write this I’m sitting at my desk looking out over the bay. The crumpled grey sea liquefies a grey sky; my body remembers August. Every day the little trawler makes its way home. I see her now beyond the black pine. On the shortest days of the year, I’ll only see the pitch of her riding light. Last night I cooked this dish using black bream. It was probably one of the most delicious ‘all-in-one’ recipes I’ve made for years. I stop and wonder whether the little trawler caught any bream today.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g (1lb 2oz) Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 red onions, cut into wedges
250g (9oz) smoked bacon lardons
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
4 garlic cloves, bashed but not peeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large bream or other white fish (about 1kg/2lb 4oz), scaled and gutted
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Take a large, heavy roasting dish or tray and scatter over the artichokes, onion wedges, bacon lardons, thyme, and garlic cloves. Trickle over the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Use a piece of baking parchment to cover the dish loosely to stop anything colouring too quickly, then roast for 35–45 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender, turning everything once or twice during the cooking time. (Note that the cooking time can vary quite dramatically with these little tubers.)

Once the artichokes are tender, remove them from the oven. Slash the fish three or four times on each side, and lay it on top of the artichokes. Use a spoon to baste the fish in some of the bacon fat from the bottom of the dish, then season the fish with salt and pepper. Turn the fish over and repeat the process.

Return the dish to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. You can check this by inserting the tip of a sharp knife into one of the slashes and teasing the flesh from the bone. If it comes away with ease, it’s cooked. Bring the whole tray to the table and let everyone help themselves.

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