grilled swordfish with lime pressed extra virgin olive oil & ginger

A post-marinade is a wonderful way to infuse meat and also fish with flavour. This recipe calls for swordfish (or you could use another dense fish such as tuna) grilled in a pan, then immediately thrown into a bowl of lime oil, ginger and spring onions. The heat of the fish oh-so-lightly cooks the spring onions, and any juices from the fish join the delicious green sauce. It is ready to serve after ten minutes. You can enjoy the fish on rice with tomato salsa, but I love it on a bed of carrot and sweet potato mashed with butter and enlivened with lime juice.

Author

Rachel Pitts, The Fruitful Kitchen

Servings

4

Ingredients

• 80ml Mount Zero Lime Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 5cm piece of ginger, grated
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt, to taste
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 500–600g swordfish steaks (or any other dense-fleshed fish such as tuna. Buy local and check goodfish.org.au for sustainable varieties)
• Mount Zero Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for frying
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks double the size of the carrot
• generous knob of butter
• Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt, to taste
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• Juice of ½ a lime

Directions

1. Combine the vegetables in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until soft when pierced with a fork or knife. 
2. Drain the cooked carrot and sweet potato in a collander, then place it back in the pot. Add butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper and mash the vegetables until as smooth as possible.
3. Add the lime juice and mash again. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper and lime juice as desired.
4. Combine the lime oil, ginger, spring onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a wide bowl.
5. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, and while it is heating, season your fish steaks with salt and pepper on one side (you may also need to cut your steaks into individual portions).
6. Drizzle a little olive oil into the hot pan and add the fish steaks, seasoned side down. Once in the pan, season the top of the fish.
7. Sear the fish pieces until you can see a line of cooked white flesh reaching about one-third of the way up the sides (the time depends on thickness), then flip the pieces and cook on the second side to the same point. This type of fish is best left a little pink in the middle, and it should still feel slightly bouncy when you press on the top.
8. Transfer the grilled fish to the bowl of dressing, lightly tossing the pieces around in it. Leave to steep in the dressing for 10 minutes or so, flipping the pieces over occasionally.
9. Spoon the mash onto warmed plates and top with the fish and sauce.