MedITERRANEAN FISH AND RICE TRAY BAKE 2.png

Mediterranean-style fish and rice tray bake

  • Serves 4 - 6
  • Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 45 mins

This fish tray bake, inspired by the flavours of the Mediterranean, is a light and easy mid-week dinner option. It packs bold flavours, with olives and capers to compliment the fish, without being overly heavy.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups long grain rice, rinsed
  • Olive oil
  • 3 cups reduced salt stock (we used vegetarian)
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
  • 2 Tbsp capers, drained
  • 400 - 500g firm white fish fillets (we used tarakihi)
  • 250g long stemmed broccoli
  • Handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • Lemon wedges to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake.
  2. To a large oven proof dish, add the rice and a drizzle of olive oil and stir.  Next add the stock and stir to combine all the rice.
  3. Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven to bake for 25 - 30 minutes, stirring half way to ensure the rice cooks evenly.
  4. Remove from the oven and add tomato paste, oregano, paprika, garlic and salt and pepper and mix to combine.
  5. Scatter the cherry tomatoes, olives and capers over the top and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes uncovered to soften the tomatoes.
  6. Cut the fish into portions, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Remove the rice from the oven and place the fish on top along with the long stemmed broccoli.
  7. Bake uncovered for a final 8 - 10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through and the broccoli still has some crunch.
  8. To serve, squeeze over fresh lemon and sprinkle fresh parsley on top.

Top tips:

  • A general rule of thumb is to bake fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness.

Tips:

  1. Rinsing the rice in warm water will help it cook quicker as the grains are starting to absorb liquid. Hot stock will also help the rice bake in the oven much quicker.
  2. Long grain rice is preferred as it is lighter and lower in starch, meaning it will cook without clumping together (compared to short grain rice).
  3. Cut the fish into even portions to ensure they are all baked evenly at the same time.
  4. You can use frozen vegetables instead of fresh, ensure they are thawed before adding as the temperature will affect the rice and fish cooking.
  5. If using tinned tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, drain and use some of the tomato liquid instead of tomato paste.
  6. Kalamata olives and capers add a deeper flavour to the fish, but you can substitute this with sun-dried tomatoes or other olives you have on hand as well.
  7. If you don’t have olives, finish with a splash of olive oil, along with lemon zest and juice instead.
  8. Substitute chicken stock for low sodium vegetable stock for pescatarians.
  9. Firm-fleshed fish such as hapuku (groper) is best for baking as it will keep its shape. Other fish fillets such as Trevally or Snapper may be used as they will also hold their shape during cooking but will flake into large flakes easily.
  10. For a vegetarian and vegan alternative, try marinated artichoke hearts instead of fish (along with vegetarian stock).