In Italy at Villa Rosa di Nonna Rosa, I loved sea bream with a squash velouté. I actually preferred this mixture, so I made a decision to make this at residence. Sea bream (orata) is a sort of fish that dries out in a short time, so I made a decision to prepare dinner it sous vide. You may nevertheless additionally steam or pan fry the fish for this dish. Velouté is French for velvet, so the squash needs to be pureed till it’s velvety clean. At Villa Rosa the velouté additionally included diced squash that was nonetheless al dente to present some texture to the sauce, which I did as nicely. Some recent herb oil is used as a of completion, produced from further virgin olive oil and recent rosemary, basil, and parsley.
A typical problem with fish sous vide is that the cooking temperature is so low that it cools off too shortly. This recipe fixes that, by serving the squash velouté on prime of the fish to maintain it sizzling.
Components
Serves 4
- 4 sea bream fillets (you possibly can substitute with different white fish reminiscent of grouper)
- 600 grams (1.3 lbs) cleaned squash or pumpkin
- 1 minced shallot
- 1 Tbsp recent rosemary (needles solely)
- 1 Tbsp recent flat leaf parsley (leaves solely)
- 1 Tbsp recent basil (leaves solely)
- further virgin olive oil
- freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and freshly floor black pepper
For the vegetable inventory
- about 150 grams (.33 lb) every of onion, carrot, and celery
Directions
Season the fish with salt and freshly floor black pepper, and brush the fish evenly with olive oil to forestall the fish from getting caught to the bag.
Vacuum seal the fish in a single layer. I’ve used particular person pouches as in any other case it’s troublesome to suit the fish into the sous vide basin. Place the vacuum sealed fish within the fridge for at the least one hour to permit the salt to penetrate into the fish, which improves the feel.
Chop the onion, carrot, and celery, and place in a pot with 750 ml (3 cups) of water. Convey this to a boil and simmer for an hour to make vegetable inventory. You may additionally do that in half an hour in a stress cooker.
Within the meantime, peel and cube the squash. Use 2/3 for the velouté and ensure 1/3 are diced further properly. Add the peels and seeds of the squash to the vegetable inventory, to get as a lot taste as attainable.
Sieve the vegetable inventory after an hour of simmering.
You need to use an (previous however clear) tea towel to squeeze extra vegetable inventory out of the solids. This can make the inventory cloudy, however that isn’t a difficulty as it will likely be blended with pumpkin puree anyway.
Warmth a tablespoon of olive oil in a pot, add the minced shallot, and stir over medium warmth till the shallot is comfortable and aromatic.
Then add 2/3 of the diced pumpkin with salt, freshly floor black pepper, and a splash of freshly grated nutmeg. Reserve the remaining 1/3 of diced pumpkin.
Cowl with vegetable inventory and produce to a boil. Simmer, lined, for quarter-hour.
Subsequent puree the pumpkin with an immersion blender.
For a velouté it needs to be utterly clean.
Add extra vegetable inventory if the velouté is simply too thick. Style and alter the seasoning with salt and freshly floor black pepper.
Mix the rosemary with 60 ml (1/4 cup) further virgin olive oil in a blender and mix till the rosemary is kind of nice.
The dish could be ready up till this level.
To complete the dish, preheat the plates within the oven at 100C/220F. Gently carry the squash velouté to a boil, stirring to forestall it from burning. Then add the reserved diced pumpkin…
…and prepare dinner the pumpkin within the velouté, lined, till al dente, about quarter-hour. Stir regularly to forestall burning. Add extra vegetable inventory if it turns into too thick.
Within the meantime, prepare dinner the ocean bream sous vide for 10 minutes at 50C/122F. The cooking time is so brief as a result of the fish is so skinny. Don’t fear if the ten minutes are over earlier than you might be able to serve, as you’ll be able to maintain the fish within the sous vide for at the least half an hour with none points. (Personally I don’t even use a timer; if I put the fish within the sous vide at about the identical time because the diced squash is added to the velouté, the fish might be completed by the point the squash is finished.)
Slice the parsley and basil and add this to the herb oil. You can too use the blender to cut the parsley and basil, however by utilizing a pointy knife as an alternative the flavour will stay extra recent.
Take the fish out of the baggage and place with the pores and skin facet up on the preheated plates.
Take away the pores and skin, which ought to come off comparatively simply. (It’s not a giant deal if the fish doesn’t look as good anymore, as it will likely be lined with squash velouté anyway.)
Cowl the fish with squash velouté and drizzle with the herb oil. Serve directly.
Wine pairing
Because of the earthy taste of the squash, it’s good to pair this with an aged dry white wine. Not an oaked one, however aged within the bottle for at the least 5 years, and never with very excessive acidity, reminiscent of an Arneis or Soave. We loved this with a 2013 Arneis. In case you don’t personal a wine cellar or wine cupboards the place you’ll be able to age the wine your self, it might be troublesome to acquire an ged wine, as most outlets solely have the most recent classic in inventory.
Flashback
My model of chard lasagne (lasagne alle bietole) brings out the gentle, earthy and barely candy taste of chard in addition to the crunchy texture of the stems.
