John Torode's baked fish, tomatoes, lemon and olives

On the first day in our new studio, John's in the kitchen with a dish that uses nothing more than a baking tray, the oven and a bowl! Perfect if you don't want the washing up and even better if you've just moved house - like us!

It's a one tray wonder that works with any white fish - pollock, hake, cod, packed with fresh flavours. A stress-free family meal that’s great on a Monday night. John swears this is the easiest way to cook fish, it's his one tray baked fish with tomatoes, lemon and olives.

John says: Being an Aussie, I didn’t grow up with cod, but wow, I think it’s ace. It deserves to be cooked in a way that keeps the sweet flesh moist so that it falls apart at the seams and this is a fool-proof traybake fish dish that will guarantee it does just that.

All the vegetables are roasted for a good 20 minutes first, then the fish is plonked on top and put in the oven, it is as simple as simple can be. I like this with mashed potato but serve it with whatever you want.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

24 cherry or pomodorino tomatoes, halved2 banana shallots, cut into quarters150g each of black and green olives50ml olive oil4 x 180g hunks of cod, skin on1 lemon, cut into 4 thick slicesSalt and freshly ground black pepperRock salt, to serveA handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve

Method

• Heat the oven to oven 200C / Gas 6

• In a bowl, mix together the tomatoes, shallots, olives and half the oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix it altogether. Pour into a baking tray and slide the tray into the hot oven. Leave the veg to roast for 20 minutes. The tomatoes will soften, the shallots will roast and brown, and the olives will shrivel and become strong and salty. Take the tray and rest it somewhere safe.

• Rub the cod all over with a slice of the lemon, now lay the lemon slices on top of the tomatoes and place a piece of cod, skin side up, on top of each slice. Rub the remaining oil over the skin. Slide the tray back into the oven for 10 minutes, no more.

• Take the tray out, lift the cod gently onto warm dishes, discard the lemon, peel the skin off the fish and throw that away too. Sprinkle the fish with a little rock salt.

• Pour the tomato mix into a bowl, and using a fork, sort of squash the tomatoes a little so they become a chunky sauce. Spoon the tomatoes over the fish and scatter over the parsley if you want to be fancy.