Roasted New Potato, Fennel and Hake Tray Bake
I’m often asked if there are any foods I don’t like. I reckon I’ll eat most things, especially if someone else has cooked them for me. I mean of course there are things I’m not that keen on – black pudding, dyed smoked haddock, frankfurters and kimchi for starters. But, the one food that always rises to the top of my thoughts when I’m asked about dislikes is boiled new potatoes. Not new potatoes in general, specifically boiled new potatoes. It’s not the beautifully creamy, often nutty flesh I have a problem with. It’s the skin. The only way I can describe my aversion it is to ask you to imagine biting into clingfilm. Not for me.
So, it’s not the flavour that’s the problem, it’s the texture. Understanding this has been really useful for my work cooking with children, and I have found that dislikes can often be turned around by a different culinary approach. My solution for new potatoes is always to roast them till the skins are crispy, while the centres remain soft and creamy. Cooked this way they become almost one of my most favourite foods – and whenever I cook them like this for others – on retreats and at supper clubs mostly, I get complements and questions as exactly how they’ve turned out so good.
I’ve used my crispy new potato method as the base for this tray bake. In goes the new potatoes, then the sweet fennel and finally two fillets of hake. The whole thing is tied together with a tangy wholegrain mustard and fennel seed dressing.
This dish was created for the Seasonal Spuds Campaign last year. I was paid to create the recipe and provide the photographs for the campaign (but for transparency I wasn’t paid or asked to share it on my platform, I just really wanted to share the recipe). I’d love to do more work of this nature, so if you happen to be a brand, food producer or media platform reading this please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ve just updated my portfolio of recipe writing and content creation work HERE.
- 400g new potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
- 1 large or 2 small fennel, around 250g, halved and sliced into wedges, reserve the fronds and finely chop
- 2 fillets skinless hake
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 lemon, half juiced, the other half sliced into rounds
- 2 knobs of butter
- 1 tbsp finely chopped dill
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 200°C(fan)/220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
- Toss the potatoes into the baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Roast for 15 minutes. Toss the fennel wedges with another 1 tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt and scatter over the potatoes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180°C(fan)/200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 and roast for a further 25 minutes until the potatoes and the fennel are cooked through.
- Meanwhile, mix together the wholegrain mustard, fennel seeds and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.
- When the potatoes and fennel are done, pull the tray out of the oven. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel and season all over with salt and pepper. Place the fish on top of the potatoes and fennel and pour the mustard marinade all over the entire dish. Add a knob of butter to each hake fillet and top with the slices of lemon. Return to the oven for a further 10-12 minutes until the hake is cooked through - it will be opaque and easily flake.
- Garnish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil, the finely chopped fennel fronds and dill. Serve immediately.