People often associate fish such as hake (merluza) only with the coast. But, as Rick Stein discovered on his culinary tour of Spain, you can also enjoy hake in the deepest inland regions of Spain, even in the capital city of Madrid. It is very popular here, and Madrileño chefs have their own take on how hake should be cooked. They favour stuffing it, and it works well. Here's a recipe that allows you to make Madrid-style stuffed hake, which comes from the same family as cod. Here we see it stuffed with shrimp.
Ingredients
- 1 hake of about 1 kilo, prepared for cooking
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 250 grams of tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
- 125 ml of dry sherry
- salt and pepper
*FOR THE FILLING
- 10 shelled shrimp tails
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
FOR THE SAUCE
- 125 ml of olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
Preparation
- Wash the hake and pat it dry. Rub in salt and pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice. Leave to steep for 10 minutes.
- For the filling, cut the shrimp into small pieces and mix them with the chopped shallot and parsley. Put everything into the stomach cavity of the fish and secure the opening with wooden picks.
- Heat a scant 100 ml of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic in it until they are transparent.
- Add the diced tomato and leave to cook for a few minutes. Remove from the stove and mix in the parsley.
- Place half of the onion mixture in a baking dish. Lay the stuffed cod on top, and cover with the remaining onion mixture.
- Scatter the breadcrumbs on top. Sprinkle with the remaining olive oil and pour on the sherry. Cover the baking dish with foil.
- Cook in a preheated oven at 225°C or gas mark 7 for 30 minutes, removing the aluminium foil for the last five minutes of cooking time.
- Serve very hot in the baking dish.