• Serves: 6
  • Cooks in: 2 Hours
  • Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

  • CHEEKS
  • 6 large Monkfish cheeks
  • 3 smoked pork cheeks
  • 75g small diced carrot
  • 75g small diced celery
  • 100g diced onions
  • Salt to taste
  • 30g sliced garlic
  • 3 stalks rosemary
  • 3 stalks thyme
  • 2 stalks sage
  • 20g smoked paprika
  • ½ bottle of white wine
  • 20g tomato puree
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 100g soaked white beans
  • 1 litre of chicken stock
  • AIOLI
  • 3 egg yolks
  • Pinch of saffron
  • 10g crushed garlic
  • 25ml of white wine vinegar
  • 150ml of good olive oil
  • 250ml of rapeseed oil
  • Salt to taste
  • SALSA VERDE
  • 20g capers
  • 20g gherkins
  • 10g smoked anchovies
  • 10g fresh basil
  • 20g flat leaf parsley
  • Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar
  • Salt to taste
  • PLATING
  • 100g samphire
  • A bunch dried oregano

This cheeky monkfish and pork dish has been made with ingredients bought from various stalls at Borough Market. Follow along with the recipe in this video. You can also have a look at the day some of our chefs had at the market here.

Method

THE PORK CHEEKS

  1. Put a splash of oil in a hot oven-proof pan
  2. Place your pork cheeks in the dish fat side down, add some Ibérico pork fat and cook till golden brown. Then turn them over and seal them slightly
  3. Remove the cheeks from the pan and add your carrots, celery and onion
  4. Add a pinch of salt, the garlic, the herbs, some smoked paprika, the wine and the tomato puree. Reduce this mix slightly over the heat
  5. Add the beans and tinned tomatoes
  6. Place the pork cheeks back in the pan and add the stock
  7. Bring to a simmer then put in the oven at 150ºc for 1.5 hours

THE AIOLI

  1. Add the eggs, saffron, mustard and garlic to a blender
  2. While blending, add the vinegar
  3. Slowly add the olive oil and then the rapeseed oil. It will start to thicken and become a mayonnaise-like consistency

THE SALSA VERDE

  1. Roughly chop all ingredients and put them into a bowl
  2. Add a pinch of salt
  3. Add the vinegar
  4. Add the olive oil and mix together

THE MONKFISH CHEEKS

  1. Remove the skin from the cheeks
  2. Place on a cloth in the fridge for half an hour to dry out
  3. Add some oil to a hot pan and give the monkfish cheeks a good season with salt
  4. Place the cheeks in the pan and press them down so they don’t curl
  5. Cook for a minute each side
  6. Add a spoon of the Ibérico fat into the pan with some rosemary and use the fat to spoon over the fish

You can plate this dish individually or serve it family dinner style.

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