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  • Fish and seafood
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Meat and poultry
Fish and seafood
Vegetables
Traditional Italian
Pasta
Cakes and baking
Knife skills
Pickling
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Cured mackerel with sweet pickled vegetables

by Ilario Vinciguerra
  1. Cured mackerel with pickled vegetables
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This stunning cured mackerel recipe from Ilario Vinciguerra is devilishly simple to make. Served with colourful pickled vegetables, this beautiful seafood starter is a great make-ahead dish for a dinner party.

First published in 2017
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Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Cured mackerel

  • 400g of mackerel fillet
  • 400g of salt
  • 80g of caster sugar

Syrup

  • 330g of caster sugar

Pickled vegetables

  • 1 yellow pepper, cut into neat strips
  • 1 red pepper, cut into neat strips
  • 1 courgette, quartered, cored and sliced
  • 1 carrot, halved lengthways and sliced
  • 1/4 cauliflower, cut into small florettes
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced lengthways into petals
  • 1/2 celery stick, stringy bits removed, cut into strips
  • 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar

To serve

  • basil cress
SAVE RECIPE

Method

1
Make the cure by mixing the sugar and salt in a tray. Lay the fillets skin-side down in the tray and cover with cure mix, packing it tightly and evenly over the fish. Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and place a weight over the fish. Cure in the fridge for 20 minutes
  • 400g of mackerel fillet
  • 400g of salt
  • 80g of caster sugar
2
Make a sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar in 300ml water over a medium heat. Place in the fridge and allow to cool
  • 330g of caster sugar
3
Blanch the vegetables in a large pan of water with the white wine vinegar, then quickly drain and transfer to the syrup
  • 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
  • 1 yellow pepper, cut into neat strips
  • 1 red pepper, cut into neat strips
  • 1 courgette, quartered, cored and sliced
  • 1 carrot, halved lengthways and sliced
  • 1/4 cauliflower, cut into small florettes
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced lengthways into petals
  • 1/2 celery stick, stringy bits removed, cut into strips
4
After 20 minutes, run the fillets under the cold tap, washing off the cure. Dry with kitchen paper and return to the fridge if not serving immediately
5
To serve, drain and season the vegetables with a little oil and vinegar and scatter around the plate
6
Remove the skin from the fillets, cut into small pieces and arrange on the plate with the vegetables. Garnish with basil cress and serve
  • basil cress
First published in 2017
Ilario Vinciguerra

After cooking in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland, Ilario Vinciguerra returned to Italy in 2011 to open his eponymous restaurant in Lombardy. His food is a unique expression of his inimitable cooking style, which combines both traditional and modern interpretations of iconic Mediterranean ingredients.

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