Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Merluza en salsa verde (Basque hake in parsley and garlic sauce)
The Basque classic: thick pieces of hake simmered for a few minutes in a silky sauce of garlic, white wine, fish stock and a great deal of parsley, with clams opening in the pan, sweet peas and white asparagus. Have bread ready for the sauce.
- Time
- 35 min (15 prep + 20 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 287 kcal
- Protein
- 37 g
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, grated or very finely chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp all-purpose flour
- scant 1/2 cup white wine, dry
- 1 cup fish stock
- 4 thick pieces (1 1/2 lb) raw hake, hake fillet or steaks; or cod or haddock
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 large handful fresh parsley, finely chopped, about 1/2 cup
- 12 oz in the shell (about 16) steamed clams, scrubbed; discard any that stay open when tapped
- 2/3 cup frozen cooked frozen green peas
- 8 white spears from a jar canned asparagus, drained, cut in thirds
Steps
- Warm the oil in a wide, shallow casserole over low heat. Add the garlic and let it cook slowly without colouring, then add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and stock a little at a time, stirring so no lumps form, and simmer for 8–10 minutes until the sauce is lightly thickened.
- Salt the hake. Stir most of the parsley into the sauce and lay in the fish, skin side up if it has skin.
- Scatter over the clams and peas, cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, shaking the pan gently so the sauce binds, until the clams have opened and the fish reaches 145°F and flakes. Throw away any clams that stay shut.
- Add the asparagus to warm through for a minute, sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and serve straight from the pan.
Good to know
Can I use cod instead of hake?
Yes, cod or haddock behave just like hake here, at about the same score. Buy thick pieces so they do not fall apart.
Should I serve anything with it?
Boiled new potatoes or a good piece of bread, because the sauce is the best part of the dish.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 81
- Protein
- (54%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (31%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (15%)
- 3 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 282 mg
About 45% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1150 kcal goes into the pot and 1532 g of ingredients comes out as about 1415 g of food: 81 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.