Ainsley Harriot's favourite Friday fish

To help us celebrate National Fish and Chip day, Ainsley Harriot joins us in the studio to tell us about the new Saturday morning cookery series he’s been filming during lockdown - and he’ll be treating us to one of his favourite recipes from the show - chorizo crusted hake.

Ainsley Harriott's chorizo crusted hake on boulangere potatoes

Ingredients

For the fish

4 hake or cod fillets, skinless 

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

Spanish chorizo sausage, thinly sliced

For the potatoes

1Kg Desirée potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced

2 onions, halved, thinly sliced

3 or 4 sprigs thyme, broken into smaller sprigs

275ml good vegetable or chicken stock

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp unsalted butter

To serve

Bag of baby leaf salad with grated beetroot

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4

2. Rub the fish fillets with a little olive oil and then with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the thyme leaves.  Layer the thin slices of chorizo on top of each fillet like the scales of a fish.

3. Arrange a layer of sliced potatoes over the base of a lightly greased large baking dish, followed by a layer of sliced onions, a scattering of herbs and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Keep alternating layers of potatoes and onions, lightly seasoning each layer and finishing with a layer of potatoes that slightly overlap each other. 

4. Pour over the stock, season the top layer with a little salt and pepper. Put little flecks of butter all over the potatoes, cover and bake at the top of the oven for 40-45 minutes until tender. 

5. Carefully sit the fish on top of the potatoes and turn the oven temperature up to 200C/180Cfan. Return to the oven and cook for 10-12 or until the fish is cooked through depending on the thickness of your fillets. 

6. Serve the fish with the boulangère potatoes and a side of salad