Baked White Fish with Charred Tomatoes and Feta

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 large leek (thinly sliced (white and light green parts only) )
• 1 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (lightly crushed)
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 pound peeled and chopped canned Italian plums tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons thyme leaves (plus extra for garnish)
• 2 strips shaved lemon peel
• 4 filets rock fish
• 2/3 cup feta, torn into chunks
• red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• flat leaf parsley for garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a large oven-safe skillet, sauté the onion, leek and bell pepper in the olive oil on a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cumin and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and then add the white wine. Allow this to bubble away for a couple of minutes. Mix in the tomatoes, half of the thyme, the lemon peel, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper and stir well. Simmer gently until the sauce thickens, 15-20 minutes, adding a little extra water if it goes much thicker than your typical pasta sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly. Remove from the heat and discard the lemon peel.10 min timer
3. Season the rock fish pieces with salt and pepper and nestle them into the tomato sauce. Press the feta pieces around the fish so that they are also semi submerged in the sauce. Finish with the remaining tablespoon of thyme leaves. Place on the top rack of the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, until the seafood is just cooked, the sauce bubbles nicely and the cheese turns golden.12 min timer
4. Drizzle with lemon juice before serving and parsley or basil to garnish