Saffron baked risoni with coral trout and rocket pesto

For a simple seafood dinner for two without tonnes of chopping or stirring, try Ollie Hansford's saffron baked risoni with coral trout and homemade rocket pesto, for an easy but elegant meal needing only 15 minutes hands-on time, as the oven does all the work!

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 25 g butter
• 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 50 g nduja paste
• 300 g risoni
• A pinch saffron strands
• 600 ml chicken stock, plus more if required
• 300 g baby cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 thick centre cut fillets of coral trout, skin-on (around 160 g-180 g per fillet)
• Salt and black pepper

For the pesto

• 200 g rocket leaves, plus extra to serve
• 1 garlic clove
• 100 g pine nuts
• ½ small bunch basil, leaves picked
• 50 g parmesan cheese, finely grated
• about 300 ml olive oil (add more or less as you prefer!)
• 1 lemon, finely zested and juiced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Add the shallots, garlic and nduja and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant.
3. Add the risoni, saffron and chicken stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Stir through the cherry tomatoes. Add the fish fillets, skin-side up, to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the fish and risoni are cooked and the stock has been absorbed.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the rocket and garlic, then place into a mortar and pestle with the pine nuts, basil, parmesan, olive oil, lemon zest and juice and pound to a chunky pesto.
5. Once the fish and risoni are cooked, remove the pan from the oven. Spoon over the rocket pesto and sprinkle with a few extra rocket leaves and serve.

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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.