MONKFISH WITH MEAT SAUCE

Monkfish With Meat Sauce image

Provided by Mark Bittman

Time 40m

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste, optional
1 can (about 13 ounces) beef broth, or 1 1/2 cups meat or chicken stock
4 pieces monkfish, each 6 to 8 ounces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

Preheat the oven to at least 450 degrees. Place a cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet inside. Put half the butter in a small saucepan, and turn the heat to medium-high. Add carrot and celery, and stir; a minute later, add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables brown, less than 10 minutes. Be careful not to let them burn. Stir in tomato paste if you like, then broth. Bring to a boil, adjust heat and let mixture simmer about 10 minutes.
Strain mixture, pressing on vegetables to extract their liquid, and return to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; let boil until less than half a cup of thick liquid remains.
Meanwhile, season fish with salt and pepper. Carefully remove hot pan from oven, and add oil; swirl to coat bottom. Add fish, and roast 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and carefully pour liquid accumulated around fish into simmering sauce; turn fish over, and return to oven for 5 minutes while bringing sauce to a boil. Reduce sauce until it is thick and syrupy and measures about 1/2 cup. When a thin-bladed knife inserted into thickest part of fish meets little resistance, remove it from oven.
Add remaining butter to sauce, and spoon over fish to serve.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 208, UnsaturatedFat 4 grams, Carbohydrate 4 grams, Fat 7 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 30 grams, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 782 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams, TransFat 0 grams