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Mackerel stewed with vegetables

Braised Mackerel with Vegetables

A fish for everyday meals and festive dinners alike. Mackerel is very good for you, and braised or poached it's diet-friendly too. I love braising it with vegetables — I find it a wonderful dinner option, since it's so easy to cook this way.

Milena

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Mackerel

Onion

Tomatoes

Bell pepper

Carrots

Tomato paste

Salt

Dry spices

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 45 % 9 g

Fats 35 % 7 g

Carbohydrates 20 % 4 g

108 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

Step 1:
1. Wash the vegetables. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and slip off the skins.
Step 2:
1. Finely chop the onion and pepper, shred the carrot on a coarse grater, and cut the tomatoes into cubes.
Step 3:
1. Add the vegetable oil to a hot skillet and sauté the onion first. Then add the carrot and bell pepper. Sauté over low heat for about 10 minutes.
Step 4:
1. Rinse the mackerel, scrape the black membrane out of the belly, and cut off the fins, head, and tail. Add the diced tomatoes to the vegetables. Cut the fish into serving pieces, season with salt and pepper to taste, and lay them on the bed of vegetables. Cover and braise for 10 minutes.
Step 5:
1. After 10 minutes, flip each piece of fish and add the tomato paste. I try to stir it in and spoon a little of the vegetables over the fish. If there isn't much liquid, I add a splash of water so it doesn't scorch. Cover and braise for another 20 minutes, stirring the vegetables a couple of times.
Step 6:
1. Soon an incredible aroma fills the kitchen, and that means the dish is ready! Enjoy!

In this recipe, cleaning and cutting the fish is about the only unpleasant part; after that it's all straightforward. Just wash and chop the vegetables, layer everything into one pan in stages, cover, and wait for a wonderful, wholesome dish to finish as the ingredients braise in their own juices over low heat. I recommend seasoning with black pepper and lemon zest — that combination gives the dish a refined edge. After rinsing the fish thoroughly, I rub it lightly with salt right away and let it sit for 5 minutes. You can serve the dish hot or cold; I usually pair it with roasted potatoes tossed in herbs and olive oil. The bed of vegetables comes out juicy and delicious, and the fish takes on their flavor. I've loved mackerel since childhood for how good it is and how tasty, and I was struck by an interesting fact: in Iceland, where it's mostly caught for export, people don't eat mackerel and it's very hard to find for sale.