Moroccan-style fish with chickpeas and preserved lemon
The Friday-night fish of Moroccan Jewish families: thick fillets poached in a red sauce with pepper, garlic, paprika and cumin, chickpeas and preserved lemon, finished with coriander and fresh lemon.
Method
- Take the fillets out of the fridge, pat dry with kitchen paper and salt on both sides (1 g salt in total); leave while making the sauce. Halve the pepper, remove the stalk and seeds and cut into thin strips. Peel the garlic and crush in a garlic press. Rinse the preserved lemon, discard the flesh and cut the rind into thin strips. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Chop the coriander.
- Heat 30 g olive oil in a 28 cm sauté pan with a lid over a medium heat. Fry the pepper strips for 5 minutes, stirring, until softened and browned in spots around the edges. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute, until it flavours the oil without browning.
- Add the tomato purée, paprika, cumin and chilli. Stir for 1–2 minutes: the paste will darken, turn glossy and become fragrant. Do not skip this step, as it gives the sauce its depth. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, add 3 g salt, bring to a simmer and reduce uncovered for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.
- Add the chickpeas, water, half the preserved lemon and half the coriander. Simmer for 3 minutes to coat the chickpeas in sauce. Taste and adjust the salt and chilli.
- Lay the fillets in the sauce without folding them, spoon sauce over them and scatter with the remaining preserved lemon. Cover, turn the heat low and cook for 8–10 minutes without turning. Check after 8 minutes: the flesh should be opaque, still pearly in the centre, and flake under the tip of a knife (56–58°C in the centre with a probe); if not, cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 2 minutes.
- Drizzle with the lemon juice and the remaining 10 g olive oil, then scatter with the rest of the coriander. Serve in shallow bowls, with one fillet and half the chickpeas per person, generously coated in sauce, and bread to mop it up.
Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.
Fish-free
- Fresh white fish fillets (hake or Nile perch) → Eggs 220 g (4 eggs, 2 per plate)
- For a duo (one fish plate and one egg plate): at the end of step 4, before the fish goes into the sauté pan, transfer half the chickpea sauce to a small 20 cm frying pan with a lid. While the fillet cooks in the sauté pan (step 5), bring the small pan back to a simmer over a medium-low heat, make 2 wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Salt the whites with a pinch, scatter over half the remaining preserved lemon (the other half goes over the fillet), cover and cook for 6–8 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still runny. Finish both dishes as in step 6.
- For two fish-free plates, use the sauté pan for everything. In step 5, instead of adding the fillets, make 4 wells in the simmering sauce and crack the 4 eggs into them. Salt the whites, scatter with the preserved lemon, cover and cook over a low heat for 6–8 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks runny.
Quantities are for two plates; the planner calculates per plate: 200 g fish or 2 eggs, sharing the sauce and chickpeas. Eggs poached in the red chickpea sauce make the shakshuka of the Jewish communities of the Maghreb: a dish in its own right, cooked in the same sauce and at the same time as the fish.
Lighter version
La sauce tomate est moins huileuse et enrobe moins le poisson, ce qui laisse davantage ressortir le citron confit et le piquant. Les pois chiches gardent leur fondant, mais il y a moins de pain pour adoucir et absorber la sauce.
- Extra virgin olive oil : 25 g
- Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 50 g
In step 2, fry the pepper and garlic in just 20 g oil; in step 6, finish with a drizzle of 5 g olive oil. Serve 25 g bread per person.
Less oil and bread: the same sauce, cooked in the same way.
On your plate
Recipe
759 kcal · protein 53 g · carbs 65 g · fat 29 g
Quantities per person
- 200 g Fresh white fish fillets (hake or Nile perch)
- 2 g Fine salt
- 20 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 85 g Red peppers
- 7.5 g Garlic
- 10 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 3 g Sweet paprika
- 1.5 g Ground cumin
- 0.5 g Hot red chilli powder
- 200 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin)
- 120 g Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin)
- 30 g Water
- 15 g Salt-preserved lemons
- 7.5 g Fresh coriander
- 15 g Lemon
- 60 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
Fish-free version
748 kcal · protein 32 g · carbs 65 g · fat 37 g
Quantities per person
- 2 g Fine salt
- 20 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 85 g Red peppers
- 7.5 g Garlic
- 10 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 3 g Sweet paprika
- 1.5 g Ground cumin
- 0.5 g Hot red chilli powder
- 200 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin)
- 120 g Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin)
- 30 g Water
- 15 g Salt-preserved lemons
- 7.5 g Fresh coriander
- 15 g Lemon
- 60 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
- 110 g Eggs
Cooking tips
The chickpea sauce (steps 2–4) can be made the day before: bring it back to a simmer with a spoonful of water before laying in the fish. Eat leftovers cold with bread the following lunchtime, just as Friday fish is eaten for Saturday lunch. The preserved lemon already salts the sauce: stick to 3 g salt and taste after adding the chickpeas. For more heat, replace the ground chilli with 1 tsp harissa in step 3.
Friday-night fish from Morocco’s Jewish communities: Moroccan-style fish with pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander and preserved lemon; a family version with chickpeas for a complete meal.
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