HAKE IN GREEN SAUCE

Hake in Green Sauce image

Yield Makes 6 main-course servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

3 (10- to 12-oz) hake steaks (1 inch thick) or 6 (5- to 6-oz) fillets with skin, plus about 5 oz bones or thin belly flap and tail
1 cup water
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley plus 2 sprigs
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup cooked fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed
Special Equipment
a 12-inch-wide earthenware cazuela* or heavy metal pot (about 3 inches deep) with 2 handles

Steps:

Make fish stock:
Put fish bones or flap and tail in a 2-quart saucepan (set aside steaks or fillets) and add water, onion, parsley sprigs, and one third of garlic, then gently simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh or cheesecloth-lined sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them (you will have about 1 cup stock).
Cook fish:
Pat fish dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil and remaining garlic in cazuela over low heat until garlic begins to sizzle. Add half of minced parsley and all of fish, skin sides up if fillets, then start gently swirling pot, holding onto both handles (it helps to plant your feet apart from each other) so fish moves slowly around edge of bottom of pot and oil laps over it. Cook fish, swirling pot, until bottom 1/2 inch of fish turns white, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and continue cooking, swirling pot and adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of stock every minute or two, until sauce is emulsified and fish is almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. (You will use about 1/2 cup stock.) Add peas and remaining minced parsley and cook, swirling pot, until peas are warm and fish is just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes.