Mackerel Escabeche with Lentils

📝 Ingredients

• 8 fresh mackerel fillets (about 70 g each)
• 250 g green lentils
• 2 brown onions (about 300 g)
• 2 carrots (about 200 g)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves (1 for the lentils, 2 for the marinade)
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 80 ml white wine vinegar + 80 ml water
• 3 tbsp olive oil (2 for the marinade, 1 for the fish)
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 10 g fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Sauté pan
• Non-stick frying pan
• Deep dish
• Colander
• Spatula

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the lentils in the sieve. Put them in the saucepan with 1 bay leaf and three times their volume of cold water, without salt: they'll be salted at the end of cooking. Bring to the boil, then cook for 20 to 25 min at a gentle simmer.
2. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the onions, peel the carrots and cut them into thin 2 to 3 mm rounds, and peel and slice the garlic. Thinly cut vegetables cook quickly and stay just crunchy in the marinade.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots with a pinch of salt and soften for 8 to 10 min, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and tender, without colouring.
4. Turn the heat down to low, add the garlic, 2 bay leaves and the paprika, and stir for 1 min: paprika burns and turns bitter if it gets too hot. Pour in the vinegar, water and sugar, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 min. Season with pepper and keep warm.
5. Drain the lentils when they are tender but still whole. Remove the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and keep them covered in the saucepan off the heat.
6. Pat the mackerel fillets dry with kitchen paper. Run your finger along the centre line to find any remaining bones and remove them with clean tweezers. Salt the flesh side. Well-dried skin turns crispy and doesn't stick.
7. Cook the fillets in two batches, with ½ tbsp oil each time, in the frying pan over medium-high heat. Place them skin side down, press with the spatula for 20 seconds so they don't curl up, then cook for 3 min, until the flesh is almost opaque. Turn over for 30 s to 1 min.
8. Arrange the fillets in the deep dish, skin side up, and spoon over the hot marinade with all its vegetables. Leave to rest for 10 min so the flavours soak into the fish.
9. Divide the lentils between the plates, place 2 fillets per person with the onions, carrots and a little of the marinade, then sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve warm.