Home Shores: Monkfish Bourguignon
- Emily Scott
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Words by Emily Scott
Emily Scott’s new cookbook Home Shores is guaranteed to become your go-to kitchen companion whenever you fancy fish for dinner.
Extracted from Home Shores by Emily Scott (Hardie Grant, £30) published 15th May 2025.
Monkfish Bourguignon
Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1450g (1lb) monkfish, trimmed and cut into 4 cm (11⁄2in) pieces (on the bone)
2 tablespoons olive oil
25g (1oz) unsalted butter
12 small shallots, peeled (keep whole)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
250ml (1 cup) fish stock
1 x 400 g (14oz) tin of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried chilli (hot pepper) flakes
1 bouquet garni (rosemary and thyme sprigs plus a bay leaf tied together)
6 baby carrots with tops
200 g (7oz) sugar snap peas
1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)
500ml (17fl oz/2 cups) red wine (Pinot Noir)
Sea salt
Extra thyme leaves, to garnish
Buttery mash, to serve
Method
The classic flavours of bourguignon and monkfish. There are not many easy swaps here; the meaty, robust nature of the monkfish can keep up with the pace though and is a really lovely alternative to using beef. A lighter red wine like Pinot Noir sets the scene well, giving you a relatively quick, stew-like, comforting fish supper.
Pat dry the monkfish dry with kitchen paper and season with sea salt. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan. Once bubbling, cook the monkfish in batches until the fish is golden brown. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, sauté the shallots and garlic until softened and translucent. Pour in the fish stock, allowing it to gently deglaze the pan and bring to a simmer.
Add the tin of tomatoes, chilli flakes and the bouquet garni, then add the baby carrots. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are tender (be careful not to overcook them).
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and blanch and refresh the sugar snap peas. Set aside.
In a small bowl, slake the cornflour with the red wine. Pour into the pan, then add the monkfish pieces back to the pan and simmer for 5 to6 minutes until the monkfish is just cooked. Finally, add the sugar snap peas.
Ladle into warm bowls and serve with buttery mash, garnished with extra thyme leaves.
