Pike Perch with Walnut Crust on Autumn Red Wine Vegetable Medley

Ingredients

• 75 g hazelnuts
• 250 g pumpkin
• 4 Spring Onions
• 2 stalks celery
• 300 g mostly waxy potatoes
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper (freshly ground)
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 125 g butter
• 2 tbsp mixed chopped herbs
• 0.5 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• nutmeg
• 4 pike perch fillets (skinless)
• 150 ml red wine
• 100 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp currant jam
• starch (for thickening)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C with fan and top heat.

2. 2.

   Roast the nuts in a non‑stick pan without fat, then remove, grate their skins and let cool. Peel the pumpkin and dice it. Wash, trim and halve or quarter the spring onions according to size. Trim the celery and cut into ~10 cm pieces. Peel, wash and halve the potatoes. Toss all vegetables with oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice in a bowl. Transfer to a baking dish (or sheet) and bake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

3. 3.

   Finely grind the nuts. Mix butter with herbs and nuts, season with salt, pepper, lemon zest and nutmeg. Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a 5 mm tip. Change oven setting to 220°C top heat. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Spray the walnut butter over the fillets and place on a sheet. Bake on the upper rack for about 10 minutes until the walnut layer is golden brown.

4. 4.

   Reduce the red wine by half, add vegetable stock, stir in currant jam, season with salt and pepper, then thicken with a slurry of starch and cold water if desired.