Wood fired monkfish stuffed with roasted peppers

This was cooked on the Roccbox using silver birch chunks from Smokewood Shack. The Roccbox is a labour of love on wood however, if you keep feeding it with chunks and build up a pile of embers along with the top flame it will get to temperature of around 250-300c in around 35-45 minutes. I would get the heat into the bottom stone first before putting any trays or pans in to pre-heat. However, understand that the addition of something cooler such as a cast iron pan will lower the heat initially before it rises again.

In this cook I roasted mixed red and yellow peppers first until soft and charred giving a nice wood fired touch. These were then used to stuff the monkfish tail fillets. To do this I cleaned off the fillets of any sinews, which would shrink and become chewy, then sliced down the length of the fillet and about half way through. This gives a channel to place the peppers in. For wrapping, I placed the prosciutto slices overlapping along a cutting board placing the fillet on one side, then rolling over to wrap. Season the fish inside with a little salt but also check how salty the ham is first to moderate how much you add and season with black pepper only on the outside.

I roasted mine with some sprigs of rosemary as I love the flavour when roasted and it goes well with the fish, ham and the vine tomatoes I added to the tray.

The oven should be at around 220-250c roast for 5-7 minutes or until the top side has taken some good colour, then turn over and repeat. Let it rest for 5 minutes or so, then carve into thick slices and serve.