Monkfish in a pool of pea.

It’s your own fault. I didn’t write it. You didn’t see it, because it isn’t there. Yet planted in your mind is the inappropriate image. The awful picture of something that I didn’t compose and certainly didn’t intend. No. this is a food blog. I try to elevate your standards, not drag them into the gutter.

Perhaps if I were to call it Parma Wrapped Monkfish Sous Vide in a Blended Pea and Mint Potage, you might have a different mental image. You may say to yourself “Mmmm, that sounds delicious.” Good. Because, delicious it was! What surprised me was the ease with which I made the dish.

The ingredients list is short enough.

Simple, short ingredients list. I took the shot. Taken short, as it were.

• 1 large or 2 small onions
• 1 kilo of frozen peas
• 1 litre of good chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 handful of mint leaves
• 1 handful of parsley
• Salt and pepper
• 1 monkfish tail (about 750 grammes)
• 8 to 10 very thin slices of parma ham

The process is simplicity itself too. For the soup, pour the stock into a saucepan and add the peas.

I enjoyed taking this shot. A good stream of pea.

Bring this to a simmer. Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic. Fry these in a little butter or olive oil, until the onions are translucent.

Nearly there, they tend to be an off-yellow colour when they are done.

Stir the onion and garlic into the pea mixture.

The peas have a really high green colour when they are just cooked.

Place the lot in a blender and give it a whirl.

The mixture becomes beautifully thick once you hit the loud button.

Once this is done, you have only to adjust the seasoning of the soup. Now you can concentrate on the monkfish.

Side note on getting the right thickness of parma ham. In a very friendly way, I asked the young chap at the deli counter “Just how thin can you slice that parma ham?” He responded with enthusiasm and skill. He gave me ten translucent slices. I praised him as he went. The end result was like in the picture.

If you want subtle flavours, you just have to be subtle in your approach.

Lay out enough cling film to comfortably wrap the monkfish. Lay out the parma ham on top.

This is the tricky bit. Wrap the film and let the ham take care of itself.

Sit the monkfish on top of this and roll it into a nice big meat cigar (Goodness, that sounds vaguely vulgar).

Wrap it tight. This will help hold the shape.

Put this in the freezer for about a half hour. This prevents the vacuum sealer flattening the monkfish and making it look like the bottom feeder that it is (You could find this rude too, if you had a mind to.). Vacuum seal it and pop it into a water bath at 48º for 15 minutes.

It held its shape nicely. The freezer bit is important.

Remove it from the bag and brown it in butter on a medium pan. This doesn’t take long.

I had to cut it in two to get it to fit on the pan. And, yes, I know what it looks like.

Warm the pea soup. Place it in a bowl. Gently slice the monkfish and place it in the centre, using a bit of mint leaf for decoration. Serve and enjoy.

Enjoy this delicious dish. It will have you in rude health.

This looks great plated and tastes fantastic. It has the benefit of being a decent number of your ‘five-a-day’ too. That will help keep you in rude health. Yes, rude….