Spanish Style Hake and Seafood Bake
This vibrant Spanish inspired seafood bake brings together tender hake, juicy king prawns, mussels and squid in a rich, aromatic tomato and fennel sauce. Smoky paprika, sherry, garlic, chilli and black olives give the dish plenty of depth and warmth, while lemon and fresh parsley add a bright finish. Served with garlic rubbed sourdough to soak up the delicious sauce, this is a wonderfully generous dish for sharing.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
• 125ml amontillado sherry
• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 2 red chillies, sliced
• 1 handful good quality Spanish black olives
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 hake fillets, approximately 200g each, cut into 4 pieces
• Fish stock or water, as needed
• ½ lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 handful mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 8 king prawns, peeled with heads retained if preferred
• 2 medium squid, cut into triangles and scored
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 slices sourdough, toasted and rubbed with garlic
• Salt, to season
Method
1. Prepare the base
Preheat the oven to 240°C, or 220°C fan. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep ovenproof frying pan over a low heat. Add the onion, fennel and garlic and cook gently for around 10 minutes until softened.
2. Build the sauce
Add the smoked paprika and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Pour in the sherry and allow it to bubble and reduce slightly. Add the diced potato, sliced chillies, black olives and chopped tomatoes.
3. Add the hake
Cook the sauce for around 10 minutes, then stir through the fresh oregano. Add the hake pieces and season with salt. Pour in enough fish stock or water to come around three quarters of the way up the fish. Arrange a few slices of lemon over the top.
4. Bake
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
5. Add the shellfish
Check the mussels and discard any with broken shells, along with any that remain open when tapped. Add the mussels, king prawns and squid to the pan. Place the garlic rubbed sourdough on top and drizzle generously with olive oil.
6. Finish and serve
Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes, until the hake and shellfish are cooked through. Discard any mussels that remain closed after cooking. Scatter over the chopped parsley and serve immediately with the garlic sourdough for soaking up the rich, smoky seafood sauce.