Grilled cos heart, free range and fish egg

A very relaxing late lunch nestled into the cushions on the window seat at Andrew McConnell’s Bar Lourinha on a recent long weekend in Melbourne was a stand-out. After eating my way through the all-too-good-not-to-order menu at SuperNormal (also by Andrew McConnell) the night before, I wasn’t feeling up to much more than a lettuce leaf, and here it was in all its smoky, charred, salty, fishy deliciousness. Simplicity at its best. Here is Matt’s recipe. We struggle to get bottarga, which is a salted cured fish roe, so I use whatever smoked roe my fish monger has on the day. Serve this to friends, as a light lunch or part of a tapas selection. They will think you’re very clever.

Ingredients

2	Cos lettuce, hearts, small and trimmed, halved lengthways (Main)
1 drizzle	Olive oil
2 Tbsp	Aioli
1	Egg, free-range, hard boiled (Main)
1 sprinkle	Fish roe, such as salmon roe, avruga, smoked herring, bottarga, mullet or tuna (Main)
1 drizzle	Olive oil, lemon infused

Directions

1. Lightly rub the trimmed and halved cos hearts with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a grill that is at its hottest setting and grill for about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side so the cos gets a nice charred flavour and softens a little.
2. Smear the aioli to cover a serving bowl or plate, and arrange the charred cos hearts on top.
3. Using a fine microplane, gently shave the boiled egg over the cos. Then, using a small teaspoon, scatter the roe over the salad.
4. To finish, shave the bottarga (if using) over the top of the salad using a fine microplane and liberally dress with the lemon oil and a little cracked pepper.