Fish Cakes with Eggplant Dip

FEATURING MONJAY MEZZA’S EGGPLANT DIP

Not much needs to be done to enjoy our products, Break open a packet of your favourite crackers or cut a carrot into batons and dip away. Or simply arrange our delicious finger foods on a platter and watch them crowd around. But the potential of our range is so much more, and we want to prove it. So we've created our very own recipe page to show you the versatility of our products. Dips to marinate or bake with, finger food transformed into main meals - the limit is your imagination.

YIELDS: Serves 4 as a starter
COOK TIME: 30 mins

Fish cakes have made an appearance in almost every cuisine across our watery globe. The origins of this worldly dish aren’t easy to pin down, but it’s safe to suggest that they came about due to the innovations of thrifty cooks in hard times, or the deprivations of Lent. Now, the ingredients are as varied as the places these tasty morsels are found in.

Smoked cod, salmon, sardines, snapper. Held together with breadcrumbs, potato or flour. Spicy as they are in Thailand, or perhaps slightly sweet, dotted with currants like they do in Turkey. There is no right or wrong, except that you use more fish than starch.

This recipe flavours the fish cakes with the savory spice of cumin and the freshness of lemon zest, a perfect match for our creamy Eggplant dip. Careful with the preserved lemon: snapper is not a strongly flavoured fish and can be easily overpowered.

Ingredients

1 tub Monjay’s Eggplant Dip
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp chopped parsley
50g pomegranate seeds
2 wedges of preserved lemon, sliced thinly
Olive oil

For the fish cakes:

500g snapper fillets (flake also serves the purpose)
1 egg, beaten
A few sprigs of dill, snipped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
½ tsp ground tumeric
Zest of a lemon
Breadcrumbs, if mixture is too wet

How to Prepare

First deal with the Eggplant Dip. Scoop into a bowl and slacken it off with the yoghurt, stir through the parsley and sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds. Set aside.

Slice the fish thinly and then dice quite small. This gives a much nicer texture than blitzing the fish into a paste. Add the remaining ingredients with a teaspoon of salt and a few twists of the pepper mill and mix well. If the mixture appears too wet, add some breadcrumbs until you get a good, holding consistency. Wet your fingers and shape the mixture into balls, around 50g in weight. Firm them up in the fridge for half an hour.

When ready, fry them in a thin layer of olive oil for around five or six minutes, pressing them gently into fat discs. You want them nicely browned and caramelised.

Serve on a plate with the eggplant and the preserved lemon and watch them disappear.

Monjay Mezza is the home of traditional Middle Eastern Dips, Finger Food and Desserts.

Featured Dip

Eggplant Dip

Traditionally known as Babaghanoush, this dip is made from eggplants. It has a rustic taste which reflects the diverse flavours of the Mediterranean, and is as versatile as your palate desires. Add a spoonful of white miso to our Eggplant Dip to lend it a moreish umami flavour. Try it with our range of falafels to give them a unique twist. It’s a great low fat tasty dip that’s great in lunchboxes with veggie sticks or added to wraps and sandwiches for flavour and nutrition.

Learn more about our Eggplant Dip View our full Gourmet Dip range