Sea Bass with Potato, Leek and Swiss Chard Soup

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small dice.
2. Heat olive oil in a pot, add the diced potatoes, season with salt, and sauté until they form a light crust.
3. Add the sliced leek and cook for a minute.
4. Add 3 whole unpeeled garlic cloves and let them infuse for a moment, then remove and discard them.
5. Pour in water to cover the potatoes by about 1 cm. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are tender.
6. While the soup cooks, prepare the fish: check the sea bass fillet for freshness, then use tweezers to remove any bones.
7. Cut the fillet into 3 portions, trimming away excess fat.
8. Lightly season the fish with salt and pepper.
9. Wash the Swiss chard, remove the tough stems, and cut into pieces.
10. In a separate pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil with a clove of garlic. Sauté the chard quickly until wilted but still bright green. Cover and set aside.
11. In a non-stick pan, heat a generous amount of olive oil. Place the fish skin-side down, pressing gently to keep it flat. Cook for about 2 minutes without moving until the skin is golden and crispy.
12. Pour off the excess oil, add a knob of butter, and aromatics like thyme, lemon zest and a few leaves of mentuccia (pennyroyal). Baste the fish with the foaming butter.
13. Flip the fish and cook for another minute on the flesh side. Remove the fish from the pan.
14. Spoon a little of the nutty browned butter from the fish pan into the potato soup and stir to enrich.
15. To serve: ladle the potato-leek soup into bowls, top with the sautéed chard, place a fish fillet on top, and finish with a sprinkle of grated tuna bottarga.