Pan Fried Basa with a creamy Courgette and Chorizo Sauce

Over the years after many trials and tribulations I have become far more confident with cooking fish successfully, and this time I won the jackpot! I loved everything about this dish, it was dreamt up and fortunately it was a very good dream! The creamy sauce, with smoky chorizo and fresh chunks of sweet courgette works so well with the Basa, a relatively plain, affordable white fish that's ideal for this dish. It was a dish I would be happy to order and eat in a good restaurant!

I tried to keep the dish relatively simple, we had no cream in and as we car share during the week, and B was not home from work yet, so a little improvisation was on the cards! I wondered to myself if I could substitute with a little milk and it worked a treat! By the time it had cooked, and a little flour to thicken it was a really good consistency, smooth and cream like without being heavy or claggy (not often manage to use that word!! I used both dill and thyme in the dish in different stages, partly down to indecision! I wanted the earthy thyme with the rich chorizo but had some lovely fresh dill leftover from a fish pie I made on saturday - in the end I cooked the thmye at the start with the chorizo and then the dill went in to finish the dish. If you can't get any fresh dill I would suggest just use extra thyme leaves instead.

Another bonus is that its also cooked all in one pan so less to wash up! Alongside the fish I made sweet potato mash - always a winner!! Even more so when it involves my beloved Masha toy! If you hate mashing (or have evil elbow joints!) then its a god-send and takes no effort and is surprisingly therapeutic! I've had mine a few years now and wouldn't be without it! 

Serves 2

Easy

Under 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Basa fillets (approx. 260g), halved across the middle

70g chorizo, finely sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large beef tomato, chopped

1 courgette, halved and sliced

2 tbsp plain flour

Sea salt and black pepper

50g butter

1 heaped tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1 heaped tbsp. fresh dill leaves, chopped

200ml milk

Sweet Potato Mash:

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 white potato

Salt and pepper

1) Place the flour on a shallow plate and season with salt and pepper, pat the fish dry on kitchen towel and then coat well in the flour mix (don’t discard the flour mix!)

2) Meanwhile boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, then drain well. 

3) Heat a tsp of the butter in a large saute pan, fry the chorizo and courgettes gently for 3 minutes until starting to colour nicely, add the tomato and fry for a further 2 minutes, add the thyme leaves and stir through, remove everything using a slotted spoon and keep warm.

4) Add the butter to the pan, melt down over a moderate heat, add the fish pieces in a single layer and fry for 3 minutes, turn over and fry for a further 2 minutes until crispening, spooning over the buttery juices, push to one side of the pan and add the prepared chorizo veggie mix, pour in the milk and simmer for a minute, make a well and sparingly scatter 1 tbsp of the flour mix and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring the sauce constantly until thickened. Add the dill and stir through.

5) Drain the potatoes, and mash, season to taste.

6) Serve up the mash on one side of your plate, with the veggie bits on the other side and gently place the fish on top. Scatter over a little sprinkle of dill leaves to garnish.

My dish was quite frugal and so I am sending my dish into this months Credit Crunch Munch - my Basa was bought half price reduced and my thyme leaves can from my 13p reduced plant! The tomatoes and dill were also bought over by dad so were free to me! This month it was run by Food Glorious Food. It was set up by Fab Food 4 All and Fuss Free Flavours to promote frugal recipes and cooking.

Also I snuck in a lonely, slightly soft tomato and cooked the courgettes all together in the sauce to boost veggie content with minimal washing up! I have entered it in Jen's Food Extra Veg Challenge, created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy Food for Families:

Last but not least my first entry to Cook Blog Share! This week its held by Sneaky Veg ( I love the name!)