Baked Mackerel in Tomato Sauce

 Ingredients: 4 pieces of mackerel or 8 mackerel fillets, 2-3 potatoes, one onion, one tomato, 4-5 cloves of garlic, fresh parsley, tomato juice, bay leaf, salt, pepper

Hehehe, the holidays are over! With good and bad, I wish you all a Happy New Year, happy cooking, and I hope to receive at least a ladle as a gift! Excuse my absence from the call, I threatened in a contest that I would bring something special, but when I took the picture, I forgot... the ladle! :shock: So, as all this happened, I realized that after the lavish holiday meals, even though I enjoyed delicious dishes from Hispanic cuisine, such as tremurici, sarmale, and salads with mayonnaise made by me, plus the smoked meats from Sugag, I ended up not wanting to see meat at all! After New Year's, I indulged in a bean borscht, as for fasting, and it was truly delicious.

Last week, when I took a round through the supermarket, I intended to buy rodaballo, a fish similar to turbot. Unfortunately, they didn't have it, but just then they were arranging mackerel in the display case. That's it, I told myself, and I took four pieces, preparing to venture into cooking. How to make it, I wondered, so that it wouldn't be too greasy? Mackerel is a blue fish, rich in beneficial fats, which provides us with omega-3, but, combined with oil, it can become greasy. Being from the same family as tuna and swordfish, but smaller, it has a lot of meat and few bones, which made it the perfect choice.

Thus, I decided to prepare a simple yet tasty recipe. For four servings, you will need: 4 pieces of mackerel, large enough for each person, one tomato, one onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic, fresh parsley, store-bought gazpacho or a sour tomato sauce, a little oil, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and 2 potatoes. At the time of purchase, I decided to buy the whole fish, so I filleted it at home, but if you prefer, you can ask for the fish cleaned and filleted at the store.

The first step is to peel the potatoes and cut them into rounds about 1.5 cm thick. Boil them in salted water, but make sure to boil them only halfway; otherwise, they will turn into puree in the oven. Drain them and set them aside. Mince the garlic, and chop the parsley as well. Cut the tomatoes into slices or cubes, depending on your preference. I cut each half of the fish lengthwise, resulting in four strips.

Now, take the garlic and parsley mixture and generously sprinkle it over the meat inside the fish. Place a slice of tomato at the wider end of the fish, then roll it up and secure it with a toothpick or a skewer. After you finish rolling all the portions, prepare a baking tray which you grease with a drop of oil.

Place the boiled potato slices at the bottom of the tray and arrange the fish rolls on top. Chop the onion finely and sauté it in a tablespoon of oil until it becomes translucent. Then add the tomato soup or gazpacho, and if the sauce is too sweet, a teaspoon of vinegar will help balance the taste. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and a torn bay leaf, letting the sauce simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour this mixture over the fish rolls and place the tray in the preheated oven at 180º for about 15 minutes. After this time, activate the gratin function for 4-5 minutes to achieve a golden crust. Serve with potato rounds as a base or, optionally, with mashed potatoes. Due to the tomato sauce, this dish pairs perfectly with a semi-dry red wine. Enjoy your meal!

 Tags:  onion greenness garlic tomatoes potatoes gluten-free recipes lactose-free recipes recipes for children recipes for diabetics recipes for hepatitis recipes for hypertensives