These pan fried sea bass crispbreads are as elegant as it gets! And if you’re looking for an easy, healthy and elegant brunch or lunch, then I think you’ll be hard pressed to beat a traditional Scandinavian crispbread or knackebrød. Served like an open sandwich, you can make them something really beautiful by choosing exciting and interesting flavour combinations. We’ve had a glut of golden beetroot on the allotment, some embarrassingly large! With a little help from my toddler allotmenteer, we pulled a few and have been busy looking at ways to use up the monstrous treats. It turns out that pan fried sea bass is the perfect partner for these roasted golden beets.
Fortunately, at the same time as our beets were ballooning up, Peter’s Yard got in touch and asked if I’d like to try out some of their new crispbreads. I’m already a big fan of their little sourdough crackers and used them quite frequently back in our wedding catering days. They’re the crispiest little crackers, so they hold their crunch for much longer than most other crispbreads, their flavour is beautiful and the different combinations of toppings that work with them is pretty much endless!
I stumbled across an old Jamie recipe for a beetroot and pan fried sea bass salad and I was intrigued to see how those flavours might work on a Scandi crispbread, I’m pleased to report it was delicious. Thanks Mr O! It was so easy to throw together, roasted golden beets and sea bass go perfectly, plus it was really nutritious too. I had a couple for a light lunch and the crispbreads came in at just over 6 grams of carbs each, so it’s perfect if you’re keeping your carbs low. It doesn’t have to be pan fried sea bass either. Feel free to change up the bass, as any fresh white fish fillet should work. I’m sure swapping the roasted golden beets for some roasted fennel or celeriac would work brilliantly too. Have a play around and if you fancy sharing your creations in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
Serves 2
Ingredients
4 Peter's Yard Original Sourdough Crispbreads (the larger variety, about 3.5" across)
80ml soured cream
2 tbsp olive oil
2 beetroot, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes (try out different colours if you can) (1)
4 sea bass fillets (skin on), each cut into 3 or 4 pieces.
A handful of dill
1 lemon
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C or 390°F. On a baking tray, toss the beetroot in 1 tablespoon of oil, season and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and squeeze over half a lemon.
Meanwhile, top the crispbreads with the soured cream and some of the dill. Heat a large pan over a medium-high heat (2). When the beets are nearly done, add the remaining oil to the frying pan. When hot, add the fish fillets skin-side down (3) and cook 2-3 minutes until you can see they’re almost fully cooked. Flip and cook for a further 30-60 seconds until just cooked through.
Top crispbreads with beets and fish, scatter with more dill, a little lemon zest and a final squeeze of juice. Season and serve.
Useful tips
(1) Standard purple beets tend to turn all other beets pink, so roast them separately if you’re using them. Alternatively, you can buy pre-cooked beetroot if you want a really quick recipe.
(2) Fish is fully cooked at a lower temperature than meat, it also reaches that temperature more quickly. For this reason, have the pan slightly cooler than you would if pan-frying meat. On our induction hob I go for 7 out of 10 heat when frying fish.
(3) When you add the fish, gently hold it flat against the pan for a few seconds, this prevents it curling up and keeps the skin in direct contact so it goes beautifully golden.
