The best way to get fish skin nice and crispy is to scrape the skin with a sharp knife and pat dry with paper towel to help remove moisture. Placing a weight on it while frying helps to keep the skin in contact with the pan.
Ingredients
For the snapper
1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 x 180g snapper fillets, skin on
For the Sicilian salsa
2½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
sea salt
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tbsp pine nuts, roasted
1 tbsp currants
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 handful dill, roughly chopped
½ bunch chives
roughly chopped freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Heat 1½ tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.
2. Season each snapper fillet on both sides. Place fillets in the pan, skin side down. Cook for about three minutes with a weight on top – another pot or pan, perhaps – until skin is golden brown, then gently turn over and cook the other side for about one minute or until just cooked. Turn off the heat and allow fish to rest in the pan.
3. Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a separate pan and add the onion and some sea salt. Cook until softened on a low heat, about five-eight minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the celery, the rest of the oil, the pine nuts and the currants, then the honey and the red wine vinegar. You should have a sweet-and-sour-tasting salsa.
4. Just before serving, add the dill, chives and a grind of freshly ground pepper to the warm salsa. Spoon a generous amount of the salsa onto each plate with the fish and serve immediately.
Suggestion: I love any fish dish served with mussels. Try this snapper with a serve of my 'mussel and prawn saffron stew'.
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