Chilli Baked Fish with Tahini Lemon Sauce

Full of flavour, packed with goodness and all done in one pot - this is a real winner! The sauce is rich and unusual but totally balanced and delicious. It's actually based on an Ottolenghi recipe from his book Simple with a couple of twists from me.

I used cod fillets but this would also work great with halibut or haddock. I chose to serve mine simply with some charred tenderstem broccoli but you could have rice or a baked potato to make it more robust.

Chilli Baked Fish with Tahini Lemon Sauce

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless cod fillets (or other firm white fish)

2 tbsp olive oil

3 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tsp caraway seeds

1  dried ancho chilli, seeds discarded, torn into 5cm pieces (or 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika)

1 kg plum tomatoes, chopped into 1cm dice

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp honey or sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

For the tahini sauce:

50g  tahini

1 tbsp  lemon juice

Lightly season the fish with just 1∕3 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.

Put the oil into a large sauté pan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium high heat. Once hot, add the celery and fresh chilli and fry for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, caraway seeds and ancho chilli/paprika and continue to fry for 1 minute, until the garlic is starting to turn golden-brown.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar/honey and soy sauce, then, once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sauce is thick. Add the fish, cover the pan and continue to cook for 10 minutes.

To make the tahini sauce, mix the tahini and lemon juice with 60ml of water and a pinch of salt.

When ready to serve, gently lift the fish out of the pan and set aside somewhere warm. If the fish has released a lot of liquid during the cooking and the sauce is runny, increase the heat and let it bubble away quickly until thick. Taste and add salt if needed before serving.