serve with a wedge of lemon for extra fanciness

Have you ever seen a grouper swimming around in its natural habitat? Until I moved to the Caribbean I hadn’t and that was a good thing because they are the stuff of nightmares.

Seriously, those things are huge and slimy and bug-eyed. They give me the heebie-jeebies. Having seen one close up I now feel totally ok with eating them. The less of those things on the planet, the better (and before conservationists start getting all riled up, obviously I’m joking and all in favour of sustainable fishing*).

Slathered in a creamy parmesan sauce and topped with toasted almonds for a bit of crunch, I can put aside my distaste for the fugliest things in the sea.

In fact, they looked, smelled and tasted delicious.

This is a very quick and easy supper with things I’m betting you already have in the fridge. It takes about 10 minutes to put together and 15 minutes to cook so you can appear to be a domestic goddess without even breaking a sweat.

*totally not joking, they are repulsive.

Parmesan & Almond Grouper (serves two)

• 2 grouper fillets
• 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
• 2 tbsps mayonnaise
• 2 tbsps butter, melted
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2tsps lemon juice
• 2 tbsps almonds, sliced
• salt and pepper

1. Mix together the parmesan, butter, mayo, cayenne and lemon juice.
   

   the sauce making in progress

2. Season the fish then spread the parmesan mixture over the top of it in a thick layer.
   

   smeared all over the grouper

3. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
4. Spread the almonds on a baking tray and place under the broiler/grill for 3 minutes until brown.
5. When fish is ready liberally sprinkle the almonds over the top.