Steamed sea bass with cockle pistou

Name: Steamed sea bass with cockle pistou
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 4 x 175g sustainable sea bass fillets; ½ pint cockles in the shell (about 300g), scrubbed; 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle; 2 celery sticks, trimmed, cut in half lengthways and finely diced; 1 head spring greens, outer leaves discarded, shredded or 200g bag spring greens; 300g frozen peas, defrosted; 1 tbsp fresh pesto; Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Published: 31 Mar 13
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Test kitchen approved

Serve something fresh, light and simple for dinner tonight with this delicate steamed sea bass recipe. If you want to bulk it out a little, serve with boiled new potaotes, too.

Serves 4
Takes 20 minutes to makes, 10 minutes to cook plus chilling

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Ingredients

4 x 175g sustainable sea bass fillets
½ pint cockles in the shell (about 300g), scrubbed
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
2 celery sticks, trimmed, cut in half lengthways and finely diced
1 head spring greens, outer leaves discarded, shredded or 200g bag spring greens
300g frozen peas, defrosted
1 tbsp fresh pesto
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

Season the bass and wrap each fillet tightly in cling film. Chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight (see Make Ahead). When ready to eat, steam, still wrapped in cling film, for 8 minutes in a tiered steamer. Leave to finish cooking on a warm plate for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the cockles in a covered pan with a splash of water until the shells open. Strain and keep the juice. Remove the cockles from their shells and keep warm on the same plate as the bass (discard any cockles that don’t open).
Put the cockle cooking juices in a pan with the olive oil and 2 tbsp cold water. Gently warm but do not boil. Add the celery and warm through for a few minutes. Add the spring greens for 2 minutes, then the peas. Add a splash more water if you need to. When you’re happy with the veg texture, add the pesto and season.
Unwrap the bass on the warm plate and dress with a little olive oil, lemon zest and salt. Add the juices from the plate to the sauce along with the cockles. Spoon into warmed bowls, top with the bass, then dress with a little lemon juice.

Recipe from April 2013 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 418kcals
Fat: 22.2g (3.2g saturated)
Protein: 44.1g
Carbohydrates: 10.4g (3.1g sugars)
Fibre: 7.2g
Salt: 0.5g

delicious. tips

You can vary this dish with seasonal veg – carrot, celery and celeriac in winter, and in late spring you can use broad beans and asparagus, chopped into rounds. Mussels could replace the cockles.
Wrap the fish and leave it overnight, then steam and start the sauce 10 minutes before you want to serve.

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