Mazi’s Halibut With Brussels Sprouts And Avgolemono Sauce

Avgolemono is a traditional Greek sauce made with eggs and lemon, which usually accompanies winter meat dishes and soups. At Mazi restaurant in London, and now in the cookbook of the same name, owners Adrien Carré and Christina Mouratoglou instead pair the sauce with fish and Brussels sprouts, for “an unusual take on the original that works really well,” they say. “This is a quick and easy dish to prepare, but one that is big on flavour and health benefits.”

Halibut With Brussels Sprouts And Avgolemono Sauce

Serves 6

500g (1lb 2oz) Brussels sprouts
6 skinless halibut fillets, 100g (3½oz) each
2 pinches of salt
Extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon peeled and finely chopped fresh root ginger
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pepper
A sprinkling of micro-herbs, to garnish

For The Avgolemono Sauce:

500ml (18fl oz) vegetable stock
6 eggs
200ml (7fl oz) double cream
200g (7oz) unsalted butter, diced
Juice of 6 lemons
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Method:

1. Separate each Brussels sprout into leaves, peeling them off one by one. Set aside.

2. For the avgolemono sauce, heat the vegetable stock in a saucepan, add the eggs and cream to the hot stock and blend with a stick blender. Bring to the boil over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens. Add the butter, lemon juice and the salt and pepper and continue cooking, whisking constantly, until it thickens again. Remove the pan from the heat and pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

3. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Season the halibut fillets with the salt and some pepper. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the hot pan, then add the halibut fillets and sear for 2 minutes on each side, until both sides are golden brown.

4. Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat, add the Brussels sprout leaves and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the ginger and lemon zest and sauté for a further 30 seconds.

5. Divide the Brussels sprout leaves between 6 dishes and top with the halibut fillets. Pour the warm avgolemono sauce around and sprinkle over the micro-herbs.

Taken from: Mazi by Christina Mouratoglou & Adrien Carré, published by Mitchell Beazley, £25 (www.octopusbooks.co.uk). Photo: Nicolas Buisson