Monkfish Roasted With Herbs and Olives

By David Tanis

Monkfish Roasted With Herbs and Olives
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(336)
Comments
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Firm-fleshed fish can be described as "meaty" — monkfish fits this category — and are often best roasted in a hot oven. Tart lemon slices, aromatic herbs and olives enhance and complement that meatiness, just as they would roast lamb or chicken. A smear of rustic zesty black olive paste is the perfect condiment to complete this simple dish. Use whatever kind of olives appeal to you. At most supermarket self-serve olive bars you can combine 3 or 4 types in one container. I prefer a mixture of green and black whole olives with pits to roast with the fish. For the olive paste, pitted black olives are ideal. But it’s fine to use just one type of olive, of course, and go pit-free throughout — it is a forgiving, malleable sort of recipe. To that end, if monkfish is unavailable, consider halibut, swordfish, grouper, sea bass or snapper.

Featured in: This Meaty Fish Begs to Be Roasted

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1½pounds monkfish fillet, preferably in 1 or 2 large pieces (or use halibut, swordfish, grouper, sea bass or snapper)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Thyme sprigs
  • Rosemary sprigs
  • A few fresh bay leaves (optional)
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1small lemon, thinly sliced
  • 12whole black or green olives, pitted if desired
  • ¼cup pitted black olives, such as niçoise, Gaeta or kalamata
  • 1small garlic clove, peeled and minced
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Tie the monkfish fillets with butcher’s twine at 2-inch intervals. Season with salt and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Line the bottom of an earthenware or other low-sided baking dish with thyme and rosemary sprigs. Tuck bay leaves here and there, if using. Lay the fish on top of the herbs and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Scatter the lemon slices and whole olives over fish. Set aside for 30 minutes to marinate. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, make the olive paste: Put pitted black olives, garlic and ¼ cup olive oil in a small food processor and pulse to a rough paste. (Alternatively, chop olives finely with a knife and stir together with garlic and oil.)

  4. Step 4

    Roast fish, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned on top and firm to the touch. Check with a paring knife to be sure fish is cooked through. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Snip twine with scissors and remove from fish. Cut fish into 4 portions and spoon some of the roasted lemon slices and whole olives over the top. Dab each piece with a teaspoon of olive paste, or pass olive paste separately.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
336 user ratings
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Comments

"Tie the monkfish fillets with butcher’s twine"

Why is it important to tie the fish? Will it deform is not tied?

Adrienne

Seafood Watch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium: A concern for monkfish is the way they are caught. Monkfish are usually caught using bottom trawls, a method that can damage seafloor habitat and often results in high of unmarketable, illegal or undersized species. For these reasons, we recommend you avoid monkfish.

David Tanis

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch categorizes seafood as Best Choice, Good Alternative, and Avoid. Monkfish (also known as goosefish) has been given the status Good Alternative, in reasonably abundant supply, with the caveat that some fishing methods have bycatch concerns. In fact, in some circumstances, monkfish itself is considered bycatch. It is a complex situation, which certainly deserves monitoring.

Judys

This is delicious!! Cooked a little longer because we don’t like too rare fish and I cooked at 400 instead of 425 (compromise with chard rolls at 375). Served with Martha Rose Shulman’s stuffed chard rolls. I know, odd combo, but was a really good dinner.

Karma M

Used green olives for the baked part. Did not have kalamata for the finishing sauce so I substituted traditional pre-made pesto instead and it worked very well! Overall I think the dish was a bit dry. One definitely needs the oily finishing sauce.

I made the recipe as written with a side of roasted sweet potatoes . Delicious!

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