Name: Wood fired mackerel on fennel and tomato
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 mackerel (buy fillets if you don't want to fillet them yourself); 1 bulb fennel; 4 or 5 plum tomatoes; Maldon salt; black pepper (coarsely ground); 4 tbsp olive oil

Wood fired mackerel on fennel and tomato

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There were a couple of firsts when we cooked this dish in the DeliVita pizza oven on one of the live cooks. It was the first time I had deboned a mackerel while keeping the fillets attached to each other, and it was the first time I had cooked fish in the wood-fired oven. Both went perfectly and I really enjoyed cooking it.

The pizza oven blistered the fish skin, exactly what I was after. However, you could do this quite easily in a Big Green Egg.

The recipe for the fennel and tomato is borrowed from Mark's excellent website Smoked Fine Food. Mark slow roasts the fennel, we 'nuke' it. I like both results.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings: 2 servings

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Equipment Method Video

Ingredients

2 mackerel buy fillets if you don't want to fillet them yourself
1 bulb fennel
4 or 5 plum tomatoes
Maldon salt
black pepper coarsely ground
4 tbsp olive oil

Equipment

Cast iron skillet
Pizza Oven
5-piece Eggspander system
Big Green Egg

Grill Temperature

Surfaces

An icon of the Big Green Egg ConvEGGtor, which used to be called a plate setter

then

Method

Slice your fennel into 7mm thick slices, cutting the fennel vertically from top to bottom. I leave on the green wispy top.
Cut your tomatoes into 7mm thick slices.
Set up your pizza oven or Egg to cook at 220°C or hotter for the pizza oven.
If you're cooking on the Egg set it up for an indirect cook with a cast iron skillet.
Place your fennel into your baking dish or skillet, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and pop into the pizza oven or Egg.
Cook for about 5 minutes before turning. You're looking for some caramelisation of the fennel.
Cook for a further 5 minutes and then add the slices of tomato, salt and pepper.
Cook for 5 more minutes until the tomatoes soften.
Now oil your fish skin and cook your mackerel either: on top of the veg in the pizza oven, skin side up until it blisters and the mackerel is cooked through (over 63°C internal temp); or on a stainless grid, skin side down until it is cooked.
Serve the mackerel on the fennel and tomato with black pepper to season.