Pan-roasted kingfish with fregola, broad beans and harissa

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced or 220C conventional.

2. Add the garlic cloves to a saucepan of boiling salted water and cook for 10 minutes. Add the broad beans and cook for two minutes. Drain and cool briefly under running water. Pod all the larger beans and leave all the small ones in their skins. Reserve the garlic.

3. Grind the cumin seeds in a mortar with one teaspoon of ground black pepper. Add 100ml of olive oil while grinding, and mix until combined.

4. In a large pan, fry the pancetta until brown. Squash the garlic cloves out of their skins and add to the pan with the cumin oil and parsley, stir through. Add the fregola, tomato paste, a splash of the wine and 300 millilitres of water and simmer for a few minutes until the fregola is cooked, adding a little more water if necessary along the way.

5. Oil and season the fish. Sear each darne in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side. Add the remaining wine and the bay leaf and roast for about three minutes, or until cooked.

6. While the fish roasts, add the broad beans to the fregola and warm through. Squeeze in some lemon juice and adjust the seasoning.

7. Serve the fish on the fregola with a good dollop of harissa on top.

Tips:

1. Ask your fishmonger to cut the fish nice and thick, so that you can get a good sear in the pan without overcooking it.

2. Fregola is a traditional Sardinian pearl pasta that's perfect cooked in a flavourful medium and great with seafood, but pastina would work well too.

3. If you have some fish or chicken stock on hand, use it instead of the water in step four. It will really boost and intensify the flavour of the fregola.