Edinburgh Smoked Haddock Fillets with a Ricotta and Kale Farce

Smoked Haddock Fillets with a Ricotta

Smoked fish is available from almost all fishmongers in Scotland, many fishmongers smoke their own fish. Something Fishy in Broughton Street in Edinburgh and he is no exceptation to this practice, his smoked haddock is delicately flavoured. You may feel that the Ricotta is far from Scottish but just around the corner from my fishmonger is Valvona and Crolla a famous Italian Food Shop.

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4 Portions
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Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Smoked Haddock

  • 4 whole smoked haddock fillets (150g each),

Farce

  • 200g ricotta
  • 120g spinach, trimmed and rinsed (leave access water on them for cooking
  • 4 sage leaves finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • zest of 1/4 of a lemon
  • pinch freshly grated nutmeg
  • maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive Oil Mashed Swede andPotato:

  • 2 large floury potatoes, peeled and diced roughly
  • 300g swede, peeled and diced roughly
  • 1 tomato diced
  • 1 tbsp basil, shredded
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • pinch nutmeg
  • maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

  1. Farce: Sweat the spinach in a covered saucepan with the excess water on the leaves from rinsing and place it over a moderate heat. Cook the spinach until it is soft and wilted down (stirring occasionally). Remove the spinach from the heat, drain it in a colander and allow it to cool slightly. Squeeze the spinach to remove any excess water and finely chop it. Place the spinach in a bowl with the ricotta, parmesan, sage, lemon zest, nutmeg and a little salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients together until well combined. Set the farce aside until ready to use. If preparing in advance place it in a covered container in the refrigerator.
  2. Mashed Potato and Swede: Place the potato and swede in a saucepan and cover them with water. Place the saucepan over a moderate-high heat and cover the pan. Leave the potatoes to cook for 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through. Drain the water from the saucepan and mash the potatoes with a potato masher or the back of a fork. With a wooden spoon stir in the olive oil, nutmeg and season until well combined. Keep the mash warm until ready to serve or refrigerate and reheat it.
  3. Smoked Haddock: Remove any bones or skin that may be in the smoked haddock. Place the smoked haddock boned side up, place around a 3-4 tablespoons of the farce on one half of each fillet (do not overfill them) and then seal in the farce by placing the other half of the haddock over. Wrap the haddock in foil and refrigerate until ready to cook.
  4. To Cook: Bring some water to boil in the bottom half of a large steamer. Place the haddock fillets in the top half of the steamer and cook them for 8-10 minutes so that they are just cooked remove them from the steamer and keep them warm wrapped in the foil until ready to serve.
  5. To Serve: Add the tomato and basil to the mash and gently stir them in until well combined. distribute the mash onto the centre of 4 plates. Unwrap the smoked haddock and place it onto the mash and pour over the cooking juices. Drizzle a little of the extra virgin olive oil around the plates and serve.