Fish finger sarnies kids will love to cook and eat

Buddy Oliver shows how simple it is to make your own fish fingers at home

Fish finger sarnies from Buddy Oliver’s debut cookbook (David Loftus)

This is one of Buddy Oliver’s favourite recipes from his debut cookbook, Let’s Cook.

It would seem like Oliver’s cooking style is inspired by his famous father, Jamie, with a focus on fresh ingredients and simple techniques.

Let’s Cook accompanies the TV series Cooking Buddies, produced by Jamie Oliver Productions for the BBC, available on CBBC and BBC iPlayer from July.

Fish finger sarnies with sweet potato chips

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes (800g total)

1 tsp smoked paprika

Olive oil

25g plain flour

1 large free-range egg

1-2 thick slices of wholemeal bread (roughly 80g)

Optional: 15g Cheddar or Parmesan cheese

4 x 120g white fish or salmon fillets, skin off, pin-boned, from sustainable sources

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

4 heaped tbsp natural yoghurt

1 little gem lettuce

4 submarine rolls

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean, slice each one into chunky chips (use a crinkle-cut knife, if you’ve got one), then tip them on to a large baking tray.

Oliver is following in his famous father’s footsteps with a new cookbook (Penguin Michael Joseph)

2. Season lightly with sea salt, black pepper and the smoked paprika, then drizzle over one tablespoon of olive oil and toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer on the tray and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.

3. Sprinkle the flour on to a plate and beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Whiz the bread in a food processor with the cheese (if using), two tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper until fine, then tip on to a baking tray. Line a second tray with greaseproof paper.

4. Carefully slice each fish fillet in half lengthways (it doesn’t matter if they’re slightly different shapes). Turn each one in the flour until evenly coated, dip into the egg, letting any excess drip off, then turn in the breadcrumbs until well-coated all over.

5. Transfer to the lined tray (at this stage you can freeze the fish fingers, so feel free to double up and have some extras for another day).

6. When the chips have 15 minutes to go, add the tray of fish fingers to the oven until golden and cooked through (cook them for 20 minutes if cooking straight from frozen).

7. Mix the ketchup and yoghurt together to make a kinda Marie Rose sauce, trim and finely shred the lettuce, and slice the rolls in half.

8. Load up the bases of the rolls with a spoonful of the sauce and a handful of shredded lettuce, then place two fish fingers on each one, and pop the lids on. Serve the sweet potato chips alongside.

‘Let’s Cook: Fun, Easy Recipes For Kids’ by Buddy Oliver (Penguin Michael Joseph © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited, £20).