John Dory fillet with fennel, orange and herb salad

Melbourne chef Mirco Speri shares this recipe for John Dory fillets, which is heavily influenced by the Sicilian use of swordfish and blood orange salads.

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• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 6 John Dory fillets, skin on (200 g per portion)

Red pesto

• 200 ml olive oil (for sautéing)
• 100 g cherry tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 roasted red capsicums, peeled, deseeded, roughly chopped

Fennel salad

• 2 fennels, finely shaved
• 4 blood oranges, peeled, zested
• fresh chopped capers
• fresh dill, washed
• fresh mint, washed
• olive oil

Instructions

To make the red pesto, heat the oil in a frypan over low-medium heat. Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic and bay leaf, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the capsicum and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and blend the mixture until a smooth pesto forms.

In a bowl, combine the fennel, blood orange zest, capers, dill and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frypan over high heat. Cook the fish, skin-side down, for 2 minutes each side or until cooked through.

Squeeze lemon juice over the fish. Transfer to a plate. Serve with the fennel salad and red pesto. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.