Melissa Love's Stuffed Mullet
A sensational filling and ingenious wrapping help Melissa Love's glorious Stuffed Mullet grill to moist perfection. Serves 4.
METHOD
1) Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling salted water and cook until softened but still retaining their shape. Drain and add half of the parsley. Season to taste and add 50ml of the olive oil. Keep warm.
2) In a separate pan, cook the rice according to the manufacturers instructions, and then stir in the Retzina, chopped pepper and remaining parsley. Season to taste and stir in the remaining olive oil.
3) To make the Papanard, mix the chopped olives and green peppers together.
4) Smear a tablespoon of the Papanard evenly inside the stomach cavity of each fish, and stuff with one or two tablespoons of the rice mixture.
5) Wrap the fish in one or two vine leaves and barbecue or grill until cooked through.
6) To make the sauce, place the gherkins, capers, spring onion, dill, parsley, garlic, shallots and olive oil to a bowl and stir well to combine. Add white wine vinegar and lemon juice to taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the sauce in a saucepan over a gentle heat until just warm.
7) Drizzle the sauce over the cooked fish and serve immediately with the potatoes and any remaining rice.
INGREDIENTS
5 potatoes, cut into cubes
Handfuls chopped parsley, chopped
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
100ml olive oil
200g long grain rice
70ml retzina
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
4 medium red mullet, cleaned
4-8 vine leaves, depending on size
For the Tapanard:
Handfuls green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 green peppers, coarsely chopped
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons chopped baby gherkins
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
Small bunch spring onions,
finely chopped
Small bunch dill
Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
100ml olive oil
White wine vinegar, to taste
juice of 1 lemon