Hearty, hot and healthy. All the things we love in a winter’s dinner date. Seasonal greens and fresh fish are certainly best served lemony and a tomatoey richness over lentil pasta makes the meal.
Lentil pasta… It’s not bad and especially if you don’t over cook it as I did my first, overly enthusiastic go at it. Gluten free, higher in protein and packed with fibre. You can find it in most grocers.
You are reading part 7 of the Winter Wellness series. Be messy, creative and generous with those you may share this meal with. If you are cooking for one, dim the lights, turn off your phone and pair this meal with your favourite acoustic jam. We loved this one with José González’s El Invento. Sensational songs, company and pasta all make excellent winter warmers and will soar your soul past winter blues.
Ingredients for two:
- 2x 250g fillets of white firm, fish (I used barramundi on my mongers strong support, ask yours what is good).
- 180g of dried pasta
- 1 tin of tomato
- 1 zucchini
- 1/4 finely sliced fennel bulb
- A good few stalks of parsley
- juice of one lemon
- 1 small knob of butter
- 1 knob of garlic
- 1 tbsp Italian herbs
- 1tsp stock
- pinches of salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Get a fresh pot of water boiling and chop the zucchini into thin-ish slices and salt. Set aside so your board can see you chop the fennel and parsley too. You need not be too fine or finicky with your fennel, a mandolin is helpful but there’s no harm in chunkier pieces to soften in your buttery pan.
- Add your pasta to your freshly boiled water, a pinch of salt and cook to instructions, about 4-6 minutes should be ideal. Drain water and let stand in the pot once cooked. While this is on the go, melt your knob of butter into another pan on a medium heat. Add your chopped vegetables and stir till it starts to soften which should take close to 8 minutes. The chopped parsley and juice of lemon can be added to the vegetable pan at the absolute last minute. Once cooked, add to the pasta and stir through.
- Blend (in a blender if you have access to one) your tin of tomato, Italian herbs, stock and garlic. Get this heating on a medium-high heat in a pan (pan must have a lid). Once bubbling, add your fillets of fish, cover with the tomato concoction and place the lid on the pan. They should take between 8-10 minutes to cook.
- Once the fillets are close, you may need to gently heat the pasta and vegetables before dosing them into a bowl. You can do this in the pot, stirring together over a low heat for a minute Your fillets and sauce will be carefully poured atop.
Macros: The following are per serve and assume you opted for the higher protein, lentil pasta
Per serve: 535cal 70gC 7gF 48gP
SaeYond Health 
look forward to making this. Looks good.
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