My son Danny goes to Grimsby fish market most weeks. Monkfish is one of his regulars — he buys it often, and this roasted monkfish recipe is a good example of how he thinks about it. Chunks of monkfish, cherry tomatoes blistered in the oven, capers scattered generously, lemon and olive oil making the sauce. It goes into one dish and comes straight to the table.
I buy monkfish regularly here in Andalucía too — a whole one from the market, which gives you enough for several meals and the collar for stock. It's a fish that suits both of us: firm enough to take high heat without falling apart, mild enough to carry bold flavours without being overwhelmed by them.
Why Monkfish?
Monkfish has an unfair reputation for being difficult. It isn't. What it is, is forgiving — that dense, meaty flesh holds its shape in a hot oven in a way that most white fish won't, which makes it ideal for exactly this kind of treatment. The cherry tomatoes collapse and give up their juice, the capers bring salt and acidity, the lemon lifts everything, and the olive oil ties it together into something that looks like you've made far more effort than you have.
Danny uses capers in almost everything he cooks with fish. They run through this series like a thread.
Danny had a look at the fish counter in the local supermarket while he was here. He wasn't impressed — not with the fish, but with the price I was paying compared to what he pays at Grimsby market. The irony isn't lost on either of us: a good deal of what ends up on Spanish fish stalls was caught in British and Irish waters to begin with.
Roasted Monkfish Recipe — Danny's Method
No searing, no fussing. Everything into the dish, into a hot oven, and out again when the fish is just cooked through. The tomatoes do most of the work — they blister and burst and become the sauce. Danny serves it in the dish it was cooked in, which is the right call.
Danny's Roasted Monkfish with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers
Serves 1–2 | 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 300–350g monkfish tail, membrane removed, cut into large chunks
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
- 1½ tbsp capers, drained
- Juice of half a lemon, plus extra to finish
- Salt and black pepper
Method:
Preheat your oven to 220°C. Put the cherry tomatoes into a roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil, season well and give them 8–10 minutes until they're starting to blister and split.
Add the monkfish chunks, nestling them in among the tomatoes. Scatter the capers over, squeeze over the lemon juice, drizzle with a little more olive oil and season the fish.
Return to the oven for 12–15 minutes until the monkfish is opaque all the way through and the tomatoes have fully collapsed into the dish.
Finish with another squeeze of lemon and a generous drizzle of olive oil poured directly over at the table. Bring it out in the dish.
This roasted monkfish recipe came out of Danny's kitchen in Cleethorpes, not Mojácar — but the principle is the same one we talked about over the table last week: good fish, minimal interference, capers. If you haven't seen what he does with a whole turbot, his whole turbot with capers and parsley is worth your time. His Cornish hake with potatoes, capers and samphire, his grilled John Dory with capers, parsley and garlic, his tandoori halibut with cucumber and herb yoghurt, his cataplana with cod, clams and chorizo, and his roasted cod with beluga lentils, asparagus and endive all follow the same logic.
For my own monkfish recipes, I've taken it in a few different directions — griddled on a fermented vegetable bed, as boulettes, Vietnamese-style with chilli sauce, Provençal, with garlic, thyme and butter, and stir-fried monkfish tail.
This roasted monkfish recipe is part of my Fish & Seafood Recipes hub — fish and seafood dishes from the coast and the kitchen.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef
