Chermoula-marinated mackerel

Chermoula-marinated mackerel

5

(2 ratings)

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Cooking time

Prep: 25 mins Cook: 15 mins

Skill level

Moderately easy

Servings

Serves 2

Chermoula is a North African marinade, used to flavour fish. The recipe varies, but this one contains paprika, making in Moroccan

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition info

Nutrition per serving

kcalories
698
protein
40g
carbs
6g
fat
58g
saturates
10g
fibre
0g
sugar
1g
salt
0.36g
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Ingredients

  • 2 whole mackerel, scaled, gutted and cleaned
  • olive oil, for brushing
  • lemon wedges, to serve

For the filling

  • 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp saffron
  • 1 red chilli, roughly chopped, seeds in or out - up to you
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

For the chermoula

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • pinch chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 50g coriander, roughly chopped
  • 3 tbsp light olive oil

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  • Tip

    Carrot, olive & lemon couscous

    Place 100g couscous in a bowl with 25g butter. Pour over 100ml boiling water, then cover with cling film and leave to steam for about 4 mins. Remove the cling film and fluff the couscous with a fork, then stir in 50g black pitted olives, zest 1 lemon, 2 tbsp chopped coriander, pinch ground cumin, 1 finely chopped red chilli, 85g drained chickpeas and 1 small grated carrot. Season to taste.

Method

  1. Pound the ingredients for the filling together using a pestle and mortar. Make 3 diagonal incisions along both sides of each mackerel, then push in the filling. Chill for up to 2 hrs before cooking.
  2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the chermoula, place the garlic, spices, lemon juice, coriander and a pinch of sea salt into a blender. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, blending.
  3. Brush the mackerel with a little olive oil on both sides, then place on a hot griddle or frying pan and sear for 2 mins on each side. Carefully transfer to an oven tray and bake for about 10 mins, or until the mackerel is cooked through. Drizzle with some of the chermoula and serve with the Carrot, olive & lemon couscous (recipe, below), lemon wedges and the remaining chermoula on the side.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2010

BBC GoodFood Magazine

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Comments

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iamsnakes's picture
iamsnakes05:48, 1st May, 2013

This was really different. An interesting dish. I would agree with earthy. For me the Chermoula was the key, and the cous cous was tasty

greenjade6's picture
greenjade609:28, 27th Mar, 2012
5

I have made this twice so far - 2nd time without the chermoula. Personally I would recommend not making the chermoula and just enjoying the marinated fish. Delicious!

susankguthrie's picture
susankguthrie09:07, 13th Jan, 2011

Absolutely delicious. The fish takes on a warm, earthy flavour (even after the 10 minutes I gave it to marinate), and the drizzle gives it a strong punch. I also made the couscous recipe as suggested, which was an excellent addition and complimented it well. This meal was nice and light, but filling. I found it pretty easy to make (but gave it longer than the 10mins to bake - Scottish mackerel get pretty fat). Cook it to impress someone!

alisondefries's picture
alisondefries11:13, 14th Aug, 2010
5

This is a delicious recipe. I made it with the carrot,olive & lemon couscous and the crisp za'atar bread that was featured in the August 2010 magazine.

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