Oven baked sea bass topped with a parsley and hazelnut crumble, served with ratatouille.
Preheat oven to 200'C.
Zest the lemon. Pick the leaves from the parsley.
Pin bone the fish if necessary and trim away any unwanted fat. Skin the fish. Season with salt, pepper and a little lemon zest. Place in a roasting tray and drizzle liberally with olive oil.
Puree the garlic and finely chop the parsley.
Crush the hazelnuts in a pestle and mortar and mix in a bowl along with the breadcrumbs, garlic, chopped parsley and black pepper.
Sprinkle the topping over the fish so its completely covered with a thin layer and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Dice the peppers into 1 centimetre cubes. Cut the courgettes in quarters lengthways then cut them so they are approximately twice the size of the peppers. Cut the aubergine to the same size as the courgette. Coat the aubergine and courgette in half of the olive oil. Finely dice the onion and garlic.
Pick the basil leaves and cut carefully to avoid bruising them.
Toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan for 1 minute and crush in a pestle and mortar.
Sweat the onion and garlic in half of the olive oil over a medium heat for around 5 minutes. Add the peppers to the pan and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes. Bring a separate pan up to a high temperature and add the courgette and aubergine, cook over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, then mix in with the onion and peppers. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and fennel seeds and bring to the boil. When boiling cover with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
When ready to serve finish with the fresh basil and check the seasoning.
Spoon a generous amount of ratatouille into a bowl and top with the sea bass. Drizzle around any remaining sauce from the ratatouille.
«Try adding anchovies or capers to the ratatouille for a deeper flavour.»