River Cobbler with Chorizo and Bean Stew

This is one of those meals which works well whatever the weather - it's light enough to be a Summer dish, but the stew itself is comforting enough to be a Winter warmer. Which is lucky really, given the unpredictability of the British weather! When I bought the food on Sunday, we were in the midst of a heatwave; now the temperature has plummeted more than 10 degrees and I'm writing this huddled under a duvet.

So, fortunately, I had this meal planned and it really is a lovely dish to make at any time of the year.

I used river cobbler fillets in this recipe because they're fairly cheap and environmentally friendly, too. They're robust enough to work well with the chorizo too - but any other flavourful white fleshed fish will work just as well.

As always, I made more of the stew so that we could have it for lunch the next day - it freezes well too. The stew will serve 4.

River Cobbler with Chorizo and Bean Stew
2 River Cobbler fillets
2 tbsps olive oil
1 red onion
1 carrot
1 chorizo ring - approx 250g
410g tin of cannellini beans
410g tin of butter beans
Large bunch of parsley

1. Start the stew off by finely chopping the onion and carrot, and adding to a casserole dish with one tablespoon of the olive oil. Cook on a medium heat for 3 minutes.
2. Slive the chorizo ring and add to the pan; sizzle for a further 5 minutes until the chorizo is starting to crisp.
3. Add the cans of beans (including the water), bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook the fish. Put the remaining olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper then add to the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through (this will depend on the size of the fillets).
5. Finish the stew by stirring in the chopped parsley. Serve a ladleful of the stew, topped with the fish.