Stuffed hake

Stuffed hake is one of those dishes that works well all year round and is liked by both children and adults. We can simply bake it in the oven with a little oil, but stuffed with prawns and served with a velouté sauce it is incredible.

Velouté is similar to a béchamel sauce, but made with stock instead of milk. Today’s sauce also carries all the flavour of the hake and prawns. With very little effort you get a truly luxurious dish.

Ingredients

• 1 hake tail or small hake fillet – ask your fishmonger to leave the fillets with skin on and without bones or head (but keep the head and bones for the stock). Cut each fillet into 3 portions so that you have top and bottom pieces of the same shape and size.
• 15 prawns
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 potatoes
• 3 tablespoons fino sherry or manzanilla
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley

P2 KitchenAid food processor and Bra non‑stick flat grill

Method

1. Using the KitchenAid P2 food processor, slice the potatoes very thinly. This is important because if they are not almost transparent, the potatoes will not cook at the same rate as the fish. This processor ensures uniform, very fine slices.
2. Lightly grease a Bra Efficient flat grill with olive oil. Lay the potato slices so they cover the base well and bake at 220 °C while preparing the hake and prawns.
3. Peel the prawns. In a saucepan, place the hake head, bones and the prawn shells with the halved onion and bay leaf. Cover with water and boil for about 5 minutes.
4. Strain the stock and season the hake fillets with salt and pepper.
5. Remove the partially cooked potatoes from the oven and place 3 hake portions on top. Cover with the peeled prawns and place the corresponding upper hake portions on each fillet.
6. Tie each portion into a bundle with a piece of cotton kitchen string to prevent the prawns from falling out during cooking.
7. Mix the fish stock with the wine and reserve half. Pour half of this mixture over the hake and potatoes.
8. Bake for 10 minutes at 220 °C until the hake is cooked through and the potatoes are soft.
9. Meanwhile, in a saucepan heat a tablespoon of oil with a tablespoon of flour and brown well. Gradually add the hot stock, whisking constantly until you form a velouté sauce.
10. Remove the kitchen string from each bundle and serve with potatoes and a little velouté sauce.