Pan-fried hake with red pepper relish

Cover the hake fillets with rock salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Rinse in cold water, pat dry and set aside. This process imparts an even salt flavour to the whole fillet of fish as opposed to just the outside of the protein

For the red pepper relish, put 5 tbsp of olive oil in a pan with the pepper, fennel, onion, garlic, chilli, thyme, bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15 minutes on a low heat until soft, stirring from time to time

Add the paprika, honey and balsamic vinegar and cook until reduced by a third. Season and leave to gently simmer

In a wide bottomed saucepan, drop in enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan and add a knob of butter. Pan-fry the hake for 4 minutes on each side. Set aside to rest

Bring a small pot of the vegetable oil to 170˚C and fry the sage leaves until crispy, about 1 minute. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on absorbent towel

Serve the fillets of hake with the red pepper relish and fried sage leaves