Fish Cakes with Lemon and Pine Nuts

This recipe by Rachel Allen makes for very quick and a really tasty lunch or supper, they are great to serve with a variety of salads which is perfect for this time of the year when the one pot wonders of winter and spring are no longer appealing. 

The tomato, yoghurt and mint sauce that accompanies there is fantastic so don't be tempted to leave this out, its very quick and well worth it.

Serves 2
For the Fish Cakes
200g skinless Haddock, Salmon, Hake or Cod cut in small dice
1 teaspoon of  ground coriander
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander or dill
25 g of grated parmesan cheese
75g of white breadcrumbs
Grated zest and juice of 1 Lemon
50g of toasted Pine Nuts
1 large egg whisked

For the Tomato, Yoghurt and Mint Sauce
1 large or 2 small ripe tomatoes chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed
2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
2 teaspoons of fresh mint chopped
Salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar


Begin by making the sauce

Whizz the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor, sieve into a bowl, stir in the yoghurt and mint and season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Set aside.

For the Fishcakes

Heat a frying pan until hot and add 2 tablespoons of oil, the fish and the ground coriander, cook until the fish is just opaque, transfer the fish to a bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients except the egg. Add enough egg to form a softish mixture, using wet hands form four large fish cakes or 8 smaller ones.
At this stage I prefer to place them in the fridge to firm up for a few hours, this is not totally necessary, you can just continue and cook them if time does not allow.

To cook heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown. serve with the sauce on the side and what ever salads you fancy.

tip#1 to toast the pine nuts toss in a frying pan for 2 to 3 mins, watch carefully as the turn from golden to black in the blink of an eye!

tip#2 the accompanying sauce is much more flavoursome when served at room temperature as the sweet tomato taste shines through so if making ahead remove from the fridge an hour or so before serving