LAWRENCE MURPHY: The secret store item that has me breaming...

Black olive tapenade is one of my secret store items as it has so many uses and I love the way the flavours permeate through a dish. You can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to six weeks. In this recipe the tapenade is spread on a plate and topped with roast vegetables and pan-fried bream.

Ingredients (for the tapenade)

150g quality pitted black olives (if very salty soak in water and squeeze in kitchen paper)

Teaspoon fine capers

4 anchovy fillets

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

1. Put all ingredients in a liquidiser and blend to a paste.

2. Put in a sterilised jar and store in the fridge.

Ingredients (serves four)

4 bream fillets

4 dessertspoons tapenade

4 small leeks

4 small carrots

50g picked kale

Method

1. Peel the carrots and split long ways. Rub with olive oil and place on baking tray.

2. Put tray in pre-heated oven 200C/gas 6 for eight minutes

3. Split leeks longways and wash. Pat dry, rub with olive oil.

4. Turn carrots after eight minutes. Add leeks. Return to oven for further eight minutes (turn leeks after four).

5. Heat large frying pan. Add a little olive oil. Rub fish with oil and sprinkle with salt.

6. Put fish in frying pan skin side down. Cook for five minutes.

7. Turn fish over. Continue to cook through adding kale. The veg will be ready as fish and kale finish cooking.

8. Spoon tapenade on to four warm plates, top with carrots and leeks. Put fish on top and kale around fish.

• Lawrence’s restaurant is Fat Olives at Emsworth (fatolives.co.uk), 01243 377914.