I’m getting back into the swing of things and have a few items in the fridge that will hopefully turn into yummy dishes. This BLT stuffed basa turned out great and I could even taste it as the cold begins to fade. I was inspired to make this by an episode on Fish the Dish that I watched last week. I had a single large basa fillet in my freezer that needed using up, so it worked out perfectly. I just put a layer of the stuffing on one side and rolled it up, instead of using a whole fish. Note that I deviated from the original recipe and didn’t add cream to the stuffing and it worked out just fine.
Hubby isn’t a huge fan of fish as it’s usually such a mild tasting meat (unless its battered and deep fried of course). The bacon added a nice saltiness, the leeks and tomatoes not only added colour, but combined well as an accompaniment with the bacon and fish.
I liked it enough that I would stuff a whole deboned fish with it if I had one. But then again, its bacon, so you could probably smear the mixture onto a roof shingle and it would taste just dandy.
BLT Stuffed Basa
Ingredients
- 1 large basa fillet cut in half lengthwise
- 4 slices thick cut bacon cut into pieces
- 1 small leek
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- Salt & Pepper
- Fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Avocado oil for frying
Instructions
- In a cold cast iron pan, render down the bacon. Once the pieces are crispy, remove from the pan and place in a small food processor.
- Add 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano and the minced garlic to the food processor.
- Clean and slice the leek, cutting into small pieces. Cut the cherry tomatoes into small pieces.
- Add the leeks and cherry tomatoes.
- Turn the heat down to medium on the pan and add the leeks and tomatoes to the bacon fat. Saute for a couple minutes until the leeks have softened.
- Once softened, add to the food processor.
- Set the pan aside for frying the fish in.
- Start the oven preheating to 450°F.
- Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes then whiz briefly to combine.
- Give the 2 pieces of fillet a sprinkling of salt and pepper on both sides.
- Place a layer of stuffing on one side of each piece of basa, pressing down lightly.
- Starting from the tail end, gently roll into a cinnamon bun shape, using toothpicks to pin closed.
- Melt the butter in the pan and add a drizzle of the avocado oil.
- Gently place the rolls (edge side down) in the pan and let brown. Tilt the pan a bit and use a spoon to scoop butter over the fish, basting it.
- Gently flip over to the other edged side and brown. Tilt the pan a bit and use a spoon to scoop butter over the fish, basting it.
- Brown the outside of the fish (for a minute with each rotation of the roll.) Just be gentle so that the stuffing doesn't start falling out of the cut ends.
- Set the fish back onto a cut end.
- Pop the pan into the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
- Don't forget to take out the toothpicks before serving!