Spiced Halibut With Spinach and Chickpea Stew
- Total Time
- 1¼ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ⅓cup/60 milliliters olive oil
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 1teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼teaspoon dried Persian lime powder (optional, see note)
- 2garlic cloves, crushed
- 2teaspoons lemon zest
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- 4skinless, boneless halibut fillets, patted dry (about 1 pound/410 grams total)
- 1can chickpeas (15.5 ounces/400 grams), drained and patted dry
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
- Olive oil
- ¾cup (80 grams) finely chopped yellow onion
- 3garlic cloves, crushed
- 2mild green chile peppers, such as Anaheim, finely chopped
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon dried Persian lime powder (optional)
- ½teaspoon ground coriander
- 1fresh cinnamon stick, roughly crushed
- 1¼packed cups/50 grams cilantro (coriander)
- ½packed cup/25 grams flat-leaf parsley
- 1pound/400 grams baby spinach
- 1¼teaspoons flaky sea salt
- 2cups/500 milliliters chicken or vegetable stock
- 1½teaspoons granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 3tablespoons lemon juice
- 1lemon (peel the skin to get 3 strips and juice to get 2 tablespoons)
- 1mild green chile pepper, such as Anaheim, halved lengthwise and finely sliced
- 2spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 2packed tablespoons/5 grams cilantro (coriander), roughly sliced
- Flaky sea salt and black pepper
For the Halibut
For the Spinach Stew
For the Salsa
Preparation
- Step 1
Marinate the fish and chickpeas: In a small bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients together. Add 2½ tablespoons of marinade to a bowl with the halibut and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of the marinade to a separate bowl with the chickpeas and stir to combine. Set both aside at room temperature.
- Step 2
Prepare the spinach stew: Add ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon/75 milliliters of the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat with the onion and gently fry for 8 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, chile pepper, spices and cinnamon stick and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, add the herbs and some of the spinach to a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Repeat in batches until all the greens are finely chopped. Add the chopped spinach and herbs to the pot with the onions, along with 3 tablespoons of oil and the flaky salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the spinach turns a deep green color, almost gray.
- Step 4
Add the chicken stock, sugar, lemon juice and ⅓ cup/100 milliliters water to the pot. Bring to a rapid simmer and then lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes until thickened slightly.
- Step 5
Make the salsa: Finely slice the lemon skin into very thin strips, then mix with the lemon juice and remaining salsa ingredients and set aside.
- Step 6
When you’re ready to serve, heat a large nonstick frying pan on a high heat, then add ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chickpeas and fry for 6 minutes, stirring every now and then until crisp and golden-brown. Transfer to a plate and wipe the pan clean.
- Step 7
Return the pan to a medium-high heat with the remaining 1½ tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the halibut fillets, spaced apart, and fry for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side until both sides are crisp and golden brown.
- Step 8
Add about two-thirds of the chickpeas to the stew and stir together, then transfer the stew to a large platter with a lip. Place the halibut fillets on top of the stew, then scatter over the remaining fried chickpeas. Finish with the salsa and serve at once, sprinkled with more flaky sea salt if you like.
Tip
- You can buy ground Persian limes, or start with a whole dried one: Roughly crush it with the side of a knife and then grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Clancy
Bon Appetit has a good article on dried limes from a few years ago. https://www.bonappetit.com/people/chefs/article/yotam-ottolenghi-dried-l...
Lyn
I did not make the salsa, as I was short on time. I supplemented with a squeeze of lemon instead. The spinach stew, made without the dried limes, was absolutely DELICIOUS (stew + chickpeas + couscous was well-received by toddler). I am not fussed by the amount of oil in the recipe, and I think I used more. I will be making this in bulk and freezing portions. I am not convinced that the fried chickpeas were worthwhile, the next time I will be try it without the fried chickpeas.
meg
This is absolutely delicious. The friend I made it for told me months later it was one of the best meals he’d ever had. The pkaila/spinach stew is good with lots of other things. For folks frustrated with black/dried limes: you can grate them with a microplane!
Tinsa
here is a little background on dried limes and, how to crush and use them https://ohbriggsy.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/spice-rack-challenge-dried-lime/
Grace
More work than expected but absolutely worth it. It had the perfect balance of sweet, salty, acid and heat. Like everyone else I didn't have dried lime powder on hand or coriander so I subbed with a squeeze of lime juice and doubled the cumin, had jalapenos so used those instead of a milder chile. Didn't bother with the salsa and just sliced a few scallions which added a nice bright crunch. Would maybe do the salsa if I was serving to guests. Delicious dish!
marcia freed
crushing a persian dried lime was truly one of the most frustrating and disappointing food adventures I ever had. I had been inspired by the enthusiastic NYT article!! years ago about using dried limes. I look forward to another article discussing successfully cutting and then crushing whole dried limes or more recipes that would inspired me to try it again. Maybe the powder does accomplish the same thing . Yotam, I am sure, has help and better dried limes available than I could get.
jen
WoWoW this was so good! Used homemade preserved lemons for the zest in the marinade. They turned into delish crispy umami morsels when searing up the halibut. Jalapeño as the pepper adds a nice spice within the salsa if you want a kick. We also used a combo of greens as we didn’t have enough spinach. Served with some rice and quinoa. Will definitely put this into the rotation!!
Julie
Amchur was a good substitute for the Persian lime. So as not to wear out the fresh herbs, I didn’t cook the greens for as long as indicated; maybe only 10-12 minutes. I also zapped the greens with the immersion blender once cooked, instead of puréeing in batches.
dimmerswitch
Even if you don't plan to make this complete dish, the marinade treatment for the halibut which is then pan cooked results in delicious fish. The salsa component makes a perfect accompaniment but a lemon wedge to squeeze works instead if you're in time saving mode. With a herb centric green salad alongside the halibut, an easy, healthy, taste bud satisfying meal.
Kate
I made this yesterday and it was good. Not my favorite Ottolenghi dish but good. I did use the lime. I think if I made it again I would use 1.5/2 cans of chickpeas and grill the fish. One note I will share is that the prep time for this dish is not insignificant. I have a regular size food processor and all the chopping and herb prep was about 40 minutes. Thats before the salsa and all the other elements. So, extra caution around time planning with this one, in my experience.
Laura G.
I dunno. Maybe I made too many adaptations--sole for halibut, large white beans for chickpeas, baked instead of fried fish--but I did order the lime powder, toast and grind my spices, and make the salsa--and it still didn't pop for me. The spinach, which I was most excited about, closely resembles a saag preparation, and I think I could just as easily have made that.
hoppybrewnette
Used this for a vegan meal by eliminating the halibut. It was a delicious and nutritious stew for my husband and I. I used potassium salt substitute and it was perfect. Not lacking in flavor.
Julie
Amchur was a good substitute for the Persian lime. So as not to wear out the fresh herbs, I didn’t cook the greens for as long as indicated; maybe only 10-12 minutes. I also zapped the greens with the immersion blender once cooked, instead of puréeing in batches.
Faneuil Holliday
A fine-dining-restaurant-quality dish to be made for guests or special occasions. Misleading name: the “spiced fish” is marinated then FRIED which, for us with small kitchens, bears its own burdens of mess and smell. Puréeing a pound of spinach is a lot of work. Frying chickpeas for 6 minutes makes them pop. Attend to the color as you cook the greens: They really do turn grayish, and if not cooked past that point the spinach will “leak” when plated, spoiling the look. Overall a worthy effort.
hannah
This was absolutely phenomenal, but took forever and generated a lot of dishes. I also skipped making the salsa, which was not necessary to have a stellar dish. I will make this again but save for special occasions. I also skipped the powdered lime.
meg
This is absolutely delicious. The friend I made it for told me months later it was one of the best meals he’d ever had. The pkaila/spinach stew is good with lots of other things. For folks frustrated with black/dried limes: you can grate them with a microplane!
Nancy R
This is a fabulous recipe. You may feel like not making the salsa. Don’t make that mistake. It gives the perfect lemony spicy punch to it. And definitely make the chickpeas. It looks great and tastes even better!
Grace
More work than expected but absolutely worth it. It had the perfect balance of sweet, salty, acid and heat. Like everyone else I didn't have dried lime powder on hand or coriander so I subbed with a squeeze of lime juice and doubled the cumin, had jalapenos so used those instead of a milder chile. Didn't bother with the salsa and just sliced a few scallions which added a nice bright crunch. Would maybe do the salsa if I was serving to guests. Delicious dish!
jen
WoWoW this was so good! Used homemade preserved lemons for the zest in the marinade. They turned into delish crispy umami morsels when searing up the halibut. Jalapeño as the pepper adds a nice spice within the salsa if you want a kick. We also used a combo of greens as we didn’t have enough spinach. Served with some rice and quinoa. Will definitely put this into the rotation!!
Katherine
Used amchur powder instead of dried lime; very tasty result! The standout here was the chickpeas - everything else was fine, but the chickpeas were gobbled up in minutes.
Arden
OMG, this dish was delicious. I made a few modifications. I used leeks instead of the onion, and did not use the Persian lime powder. I fried the chick peas with the halibut. I was short on time and didn’t feel it needed the extra step. I too skipped the salsa. The spices were terrific and definitely needed the lemon to bring it all together. Definitely a keeper.
Nancy R
This was another home run by yotam. The spinach and chickpea stew was smooth and perfectly flavored. I made exactly as written, except I used some preserved lemon in the salsa. I marinated tofu in the marinade and pan fried it for my vegetarian other half. Good, but absolutely stellar with the halibut.
Geri
This is an absolutely delicious, flavorful way to prepare halibut. The marinade is a lovely way to spice the fish and chickpeas, as well as the yogurt dressing. We wanted more!
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