Monk Fish Recipes
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Roasted Monk Fish
I love monkfish and this is one of the easiest monk fish recipes I have ever found.
If you want a sauce with this then click here for a lovely tomato sauce recipe.
Serve this monkfish with the sauce, some new potatoes and buttered vegetables.
It is sometimes referred to as 'poor man's lobster'. It does taste very much like lobster and has a firm, meaty texture.
If you've any leftovers, then keep them refrigerated and eat them yourself when nobody's looking - or you could share with your family and make fish cakes :-) or look at these lobster recipes: Lobster Baked Potato and Lobster Mac'n'Cheese, which both use small amounts and you can use up any bits you have.
Roasted Monkfish
1 piece of monk fish about 3lbs (1.5k) in weight
1 very fat garlic clove - or more if you like - sliced
black pepper
Olive oil
Slices of thin ham
Get your oven hot - Gas Mark 7, 425F or 220C
Cut slits in the flesh and insert slivers of garlic - go for it:-)
Wrap the fillet in parma ham and tuck the edges in.
Brush the tail with oil and then season with pepper.
Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until it's cooked through - firm to the touch.
Now - how easy was that!
Let it rest for five minutes or so before slicing to serve. This way, the juices will reabsorb a little back into the fish. Cover it with some foil, so that it doesn't lose any heat.
You could make individual ham parcels if you prefer - a 6 ounce or 150 gram piece of fish and cook for around 20 minutes. Test to see if it's cooked after 15.
You only eat the tails of monkfish - it is one ugly fish and consists of a head (very ugly) and a tail - very tasty - it's got a face that only a mother could love.
It's a very deep sea fish and is quite expensive - the only edible meat coming from the tail and cheeks. They are normally caught at around 3 feet (one metre) long and 4 to 5 feet is considered a really good size.
It has a membrane covering the tail and it's a good idea to remove it if you can - if you don't, the meat scrunches up when it cooks and it doesn't look as nice.
There is one large bone running through the middle, which is easily avoided - if you remove it before cooking, then you'll need to 'truss' the piece back together with string - I don't bother - it's easy to remove when you're serving it.
Halibut recipes would easily substitute for monk fish recipes as they are a similar meaty texture and need to let the fish 'be the star'.
A whole monkfish with a face that only a mother could love. The large fleshy tail and the cheeks are the edible parts. It does tend to be a bit on the expensive side, as it's a popular restaurant fish. However, there is little waste (no skin and one central bone) and as it is so full of flavour, a little bit goes a long way.
Like most fish, it is a good source of protein, low in fat and a source of vitamins and minerals.
Per 100g raw monkfish
Energy 76kcal
Fat 1.5g (of which saturated fat 0.3g)
Protein 14g
Vitamin B12, selenium and phosphorus.
This would be a perfect choice to serve as an alternative to turkey at Thanksgiving or Christmas. The sides served could be the same, you'd just need to provide a sauce instead of the gravy - the tomato sauce would be ideal. As the host(ess) the extra work involved would be minimal. You could put the monkfish into the oven to cook after the rest had come out. You could even pan fry it if you wanted, do the garlic and wrap in ham, then pan fry in a small amount of oil or butter on all four sides for two to three minutes and it should be cooked roughly the same as if you'd cooked it in the oven. The ham would be crispy and the fish tender and full of flavour.
So if you have a pescatarian guest or just want a change from the usual offering, this would be perfect and a very different fish to offer from the usual salmon ( not that there's anything wrong with salmon, it's lovely!).
Monkfish is available all year round and is generally considered to be sustainable.
Other pages for monk fish recipes - halibut is a good substitute either way
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Roasted Monkfish
By Liz Alderson, Mar 21, 2017
Simple method of cooking on of the best fish you can buy - roasted monkfish
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4
Main Ingredient: Monkfish, garlic