Crusted sea bream, Andalusian tomato, smoked almonds, fennel, lemon

  • medium
  • 4
  • 1 hour 30 minutes
Not yet rated

This stunning sous vide sea bream recipe from Chantelle Nicholson is crusted with smoked almonds and served with a vibrant, cold tomato 'soup', marinated datterino tomatoes and a baked lemon purée.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Sea bream

Andalusian tomato soup

Baked lemon

  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp of stock syrup
  • 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Datterino tomatoes

Fennel salad

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Water bath
  • Vacuum bags 4
  • Chamber sealer

Method

1
Begin by making the tomato soup. Slice the tomatoes into 1cm slices and place on a tray in a single layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and freeze for 1 hour
2
When ready, remove the tomatoes from the freezer, allow to defrost and place in a colander over a bowl to collect the juices
3
Pour the juice over the bread and leave to sit for 20 minutes to soften. Blend together, add the remaining ingredients and blitz again until very smooth. Pass through a fine strainer, season to taste and store if the fridge until required
4
Preheat the oven to 160˚C/gas mark 3
5
To make the baked lemon, place the lemon on a tray and bake in the oven until dark brown. Blitz the whole lemon with the stock syrup and olive oil and season to taste
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp of stock syrup
  • 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
6
Marinate the dattorino tomatoes with the balsamic, olive oil and seasoning
7
Dress the fennel in the lemon zest, juice and olive oil and set aside
8
Preheat a water bath to 68°C
9
Sprinkle the bream fillets with salt and set aside for 4 minutes
10
Place each fillet into an individual vacuum bag with a tablespoon of oil and seal in a chamber sealer
  • 4 tbsp of olive oil
11
Cook the fish in the water bath for 4 minutes. Remove the fillets from the bags and place skin-side up under a salamander (or other very hot grill) and cook until the skin is easy to peel off
12
Dress 4 plates with the soup in swirls, then top with the marinated datterino tomatoes. Place the fish on top and drizzle with the baked lemon purée. Sprinkle with the almonds then top with dressed fennel. Dress the plates with the sorrel leaves and fennel cress before serving

From New Zealand law student to the opening of her first solo sustainable restaurant Apricity (which won a Michelin green star in 2023), Chantelle Nicholson’s hard work and determination – especially in evolving free-from and plant-based cooking at the highest level – has cemented her reputation as one of the UK's most forward-thinking chefs.

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