Grey mullet with mussels, roasted garlic and oregano

Serves 4

2 grey mullets, about 300-400g each, scaled & gutted
2 heads of garlic, unpeeled
150ml good olive oil, plus a little extra for frying and drizzling
Sea salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
250ml dry white wine
500g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
Pinch of saffron strands
1 heaped tspd dried oregano
10 live mussels, cleaned and beards removed
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C

2. Cut the heads from the fish, then chop into chunks along the length of the fish about 5cm long. It's best to start about 3 inches back from the tail and work your way to the head end, so you still make sure you get a nice tail piece.

3. First, roast the garlic. Cut the top part so you can see the garlic cloves, then place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with a little salt. Roast in the oven for about 20mins or until the garlic is soft and can be easily squeezed out. Leave to cool then carefully peel the cloves and set aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add the onion and celery and fry gently until softened. Add half of the wine and boil for a minute, then add the tomatoes and saffron. Cover the pan and cook gently for 30-40mins until the tomatoes are soft and stewed and really broken down. If the sauce is a bit dry, add a splash of water, pour the sauce through a strainer to extract the juice.

5. Pour 150ml of olive oil into a hot roasting pan, add the garlic cloves and stir, mashing 6 or 7 of the cloves down. Add the remaining wine, boil for a minute, then add the tomato sauce and oregano and stir together. add the fish.

6. Cover and bake in the oven for 12-14mins. Add the mussels and bake for a further 5mins until the mussels have opened. remove from the oven, discard any mussels that are still closed, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

(Mitch Tonks - Fish)