Citrus-baked mackerel with couscous

Citrus-baked mackerel with couscous

This lightly spiced dish, with mackerel and couscous, has a wonderful sweet and sour flavour, while the oranges take the edge off the oilyness of the fish.

Citrus-baked mackerel with couscous

  • Serves icon for 4 people
  • Time icon Takes 20 minutes to make and 12-15 minutes in the oven

This lightly spiced dish, with mackerel and couscous, has a wonderful sweet and sour flavour, while the oranges take the edge off the oilyness of the fish.

Per serving: 664kcals, 42.7g fat (7.9g saturated), 42.6g protein,
34g carbs, 8.1g sugar, 0.4g salt

Ingredients

2 oranges
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp olive oil
Thumb-size piece fresh ginger, grated
4 medium, whole fresh mackerel, gutted and cleaned

For the couscous
200g couscous
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp olive oil

Sticky screen? No thanks! Tap to prevent your screen from going off while cooking.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. For the fish, make a paste by mixing together the finely grated zest of 1 orange with the cumin, coriander, oil, ginger and some seasoning. Make 3 slashes on both sides of each mackerel, rub the paste inside and over the outside and transfer the fish to a large roasting tin lined with foil.
2. Cut the un-zested orange into round slices and stuff inside each fish. Juice the zested orange and pour over the fish. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked. A good test is to see if the top dorsal fin comes out easily – if it does, it’s cooked, if not, cook for a further 5 minutes and try again.
3. Meanwhile, put all the couscous ingredients into a large bowl. Pour over 225ml just-boiled water, cover with cling film and set aside for 5 minutes to absorb the liquid. Fluff up the grains with a fork and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
4. Carefully lift a mackerel onto each plate, spooning over the pan juices and rearranging the orange slices inside each fish. Spoon the couscous alongside to serve.

Buy ingredients online

Subscribe

Fancy getting a copy in print?

Subscribe to our magazine

Rate & review

Rate

Reviews

Share a tip

Or, how about...?

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Mackerel

Mackerel and beetroot salad

John Whaite’s interesting combination of sweet beetroot and strong, oily...

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Mackerel

Mackerel, blood orange, chorizo and walnut salad

This simple yet tasty salad makes the most of seasonal...

Subscribe to our magazine

Food stories, skills and tested recipes, straight to your door... Enjoy 5 issues for just £5 with our special introductory offer.

Subscribe

Unleash your inner chef

Looking for inspiration? Receive the latest recipes with our newsletter

We treat your data with care. See our privacy policy. By signing up, you are agreeing to delicious.’ terms and conditions. Unsubscribe at any time.