Roasted Pike with Bacon and Tomato Ragu

Pike's firm white meat has a very neutral flavour and they hold up well to most kinds of cooking. Pike do have an interesting bone structure that makes them a bit challenging to prepare, but I have found a couple of techniques for dealing with those bones. The first is a technique for filleting the fish around the bones that leaves you with five boneless fillets. Another option is to pickle them. The vinegar used in the pickling process softens the bones to a point that you can eat them without even noticing they were ever there. I have also tried smoking pike and picking out the bones which works okay as well, but it is a little tedious.

Roasted Pike:
2 pike fillets
2 Tbsp. olive oil
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Bacon and Tomato Ragu:
1 lb yellow plum tomatoes, cut in half
¼ lb bacon, diced
1 leek, diced
2 Tbsp. capers
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Start with the bacon in a pan over medium heat and cook until the bacon is in crispy little bits. Remove the bacon bits and leave the bacon fat. Add the leeks and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then toss in the garlic and continue cooking for another minute. Add in all the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft. Throw in the bacon bits and capers and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Set this aside and get started on the fish.

Preheat an oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5).

Liberally salt and pepper the fillets. In a large fry pan, bring 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to heat over medium high heat. Gently place the fillets in the oil and cook for 3-4 minutes until a light brown crust forms. Flip the fillets over and place in the oven for 5 minutes. When you remove the fillets from the oven, they will have a light golden brown color and the edges will be slightly crispy. Serve the fillets with the bacon and tomato mixture served on top or on the side. Garnish with some chives and green onions.