Chef Stephan Pyles of Stephan Pyles – Dallas, TX
Adapted by StarChefs.com

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

Aji Mirasol Purée:

• 8 to10 Aji Mirasol chilies
  
• Water
  
  Almond Gazpacho:
  
• 8 ounces blanched almonds
  
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 1 quart filtered or spring water
  
• 2 ounces white bread, crust removed, diced
  
• ½ cup Spanish extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
  
  Vanilla-Roasted Fennel:
  
• 1 pint orange juice
  
• ½ vanilla bean
  
• 1 fennel bulb, quartered
  
• 2 Tablespoons Spanish extra virgin olive oil
  
• Salt
  
  Bronzini Ceviche:
  
• 14 ounces bronzini
  
• ½ cup ice cubes
  
• 4 teaspoons key lime juice
  
• Salt
  
  To Assemble and Serve:
  
• 1 Mango, peeled, pitted, cut into ¼-inch dice, frozen
  
• Spanish extra virgin olive oil

Method

For the Aji Mirasol Purée:
Preheat oven to 475°F. Wash and thoroughly dry chilies, then cut off stems, halve, and remove seeds. Place on a baking sheet and roast for one minute. (Alternatively, the chiles may be dry-roasted over high heat in a skillet or on a comal until they puff up, approximately 45 seconds.) Transfer chilies to a bowl and cover with warm water; soak for 30 minutes to rehydrate. Strain, reserving soaking liquid, and place in a blender. Puree chilies, adding just enough liquid to make a thick paste. Strain through a medium sieve and set aside.

For the Almond Gazpacho:
Put almonds and garlic in a saucepan with one cup water and bring to a boil. Strain mixture and then add another cup of water to pan and bring back to a boil. Strain again. Transfer almond mixture to a blender and add remaining 2 cups water, white bread, olive oil, sherry vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth, about a minute. Place a sieve over a large bowl and line with cheesecloth; strain pureed almond mixture, allowing most of the liquid to pass through. Gather ends of cheesecloth and squeeze to extract as much of the remaining liquid as possible. Discard solids and reserve liquid; chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the Vanilla-Roasted Fennel:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Put orange juice in a small saucepan and scrape in vanilla bean seeds; reduce by half over medium heat. Place fennel in a small roasting pan and drizzle with orange-vanilla mixture and olive oil, and season with salt. Roast until fennel is soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to cool; then remove fennel core and cut into a small dice. Reserve the cooking liquid.

For the Bronzini Ceviche:
Remove skin from bronzini. Cut off 2 ounces from fillet and set aside; slice remaining fillet into 1-inch by ¼-inch strips. Put reserved 2 ounces fillet in a blender with ice cubes and blend until very smooth, about a minute. Set aside in refrigerator to chill. Put sliced bronzini in a glass or stainless steel bowl, add lime juice and season with salt. Stir to combine thoroughly and let ceviche marinate for 5 minutes. Add the icy fish puree and a tablespoon aji mirasol puree; combine thoroughly. Add about 2 tablespoons reserved orange-vanilla cooking liquid and 3 tablespoons diced fennel. Mix together thoroughly.   

To Assemble and Serve:
Divide ceviche among 4 shallow bowls and ladle ½ cup of almond gazpacho around it. Drizzle with a small amount of Spanish olive oil and garnish with a few pieces of mango.