I always think it's a bit of a shame that when we think of oily fish, we think of salmon. Sure, salmon is flipping great. But there's more to the oily fish life than salmon! Trout, fresh tuna, and of course mackerel all count as your recommended weekly portion of oily fish. Mackerel sometimes gets a bad reputation as there's no denying it's pretty punchy smell and taste. The trick is to make sure your mackerel is fresh, so use it one you've bought it, and to serve it with other equally punchy flavours.
Citrus is a particularly good shout - grapefruit in particular is a lovely friend of mackerel. I've used preserved lemon here as I think there'd be a bit too much going on otherwise, but feel free to experiment.
What's the A to V?
Mackerel as an oily fish, is a brilliant source of vitamin D and B12, both not the easiest of the vitamins to get from dietary sources. It's also high in sodium, vitamin A and iodine.
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 mackerel fillets
1/2 a red onion, sliced into half moons
2 garlic cloves, chopped
400g of tinned tomato
1 tbsp of tomato puree
2 generous handfuls of spinach or kale
150g black pitted olives
1 tbsp of capers
1.5 tbsp of harissa
1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 tbsp of olive oil
Serve with a slice of lemon, and a sprinkling of parsley
Method
Start with the tomato and olive side. Heat your olive oil, and add the onion and garlic. Cook with a pinch of salt for roughly 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
Add your kale or spinach and olives and cook for 2 minutes. Add your tomato and capers to the pan, and give everything a good stir. Add you tomato puree, season, and cook on a low heat (covered) for 15 minutes.
With 5 minutes to go, heat a separate saucepan. Mackerel are naturally oily, so I tend to cook them with only the harissa in the pan. They'll need roughly 3 minutes on each side (make sure the pan is hot), and you should add the preserved lemon at the same time you chuck your fish in the pan.
Serve the mackerel fillet alongside your tomato mix, and with a slice of lemon on the side.