1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced.
2. Fillet the fish by holding the head firmly and making a cut behind the head down towards the bone on each side. Run a chefs knife from the top of the spine down across the bones and through the ribcage to remove the fillets.
3. Cut around the ribcage to remove and discard.
4. Remove the skin by holding the tail end of the fillet and running the knife away from you, down between the skin and flesh, pulling the tail end firmly towards you.
5. Pinbone the fillets. Trim and discard the tail end. Portion into four 150-200g pieces. Place fish on a small tray and set aside at room temperature. Store any remaining fish for another use.
6. Combine macadamias, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and vegetable stock in a blender and process on low speed for 1 minute or until smooth and emulsified. Increase blender to high speed and process for a further minute. Check and adjust seasoning as needed.
7. Pass puree through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan and set aside at room temperature.
8. Place a large nonstick frypan over medium heat to warm.
9. Remove peas from pods and place into a medium bowl, discarding the pods. You’ll need about 4 tablespoons of podded peas. Season with salt.
10. Use a Parisienne scoop to scoop 20 balls of flesh from each zucchini and add to the peas.
11. Reduce the frypan to low heat.
12. Remove capsicum stalk and seeds. Finely dice the capsicum flesh and add to the peas.
13. Pick fronds from the fennel and place on a small tray in the fridge. Peel an outer layer of fennel off, finely dice and add to the peas.
14. Peel eschallots and slice into 3mm thick rounds. Add to the peas.
15. Add the bowl of vegetables to the hot pan with half the olive oil and saute without colour, adding a dash of water if needed. When liquid comes to a boil, remove pan from the heat and set aside.
16. Quarter the baby tomatoes. Place tomatoes and thyme on a small baking tray, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and season with salt. Lightly roast tomatoes at 180°C for 10 minutes or until just starting to collapse. Remove tray of tomatoes from the oven and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Set aside.
17. Strip thyme leaves from the stems and add to the vegetables in the pan.
18. Warm a large frypan over high heat.
19. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine clams, thyme, shallots, garlic and chilli flakes.
20. Add clams, aromats and olive oil to the hot pan, cover with a lid and steam for 20 seconds.
21. Cut potato into 3cm thick slices. Use a 3cm wide round cutter to cut cylinders from the potatoes and discard the offcuts. Slice thinly on a mandolin and transfer to a small bowl.
22. Add Pernod to the pan and flambe. Add chardonnay, cover with the lid and steam for 20 seconds. Add fish stock, cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes or until clams open.
23. When clams have opened, remove the pan from the heat and pass Jus through a fine sieve, lined with muslin cloth into a medium bowl.
24. Keep 20 pippies aside for plating. Remove remaining pippies from their shell and add to the Minestrone, along with 2 tablespoons of Jus and butter. If needed, place the pan briefly over low heat to monte butter through.
25. Melt 40g of butter in a small saucepan. Add butter to the sliced potato and toss to coat slices well.
26. In a small bowl, whisk egg white until light and airy. Use a pastry brush to brush skin side of the fish fillet with egg white and arrange potato coins in an overlapping pattern, 4 lines lengthways along fillet to mimic the scales of a fish.
27. Preheat a medium nonstick frypan over medium heat. Lightly grease the pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, discard and lightly wipe the pan.
28. Two at a time, carefully place fish in your hand, potato scales up and position the hot frypan over the top. Carefully press fish into the hot pan whilst turning the frypan over.
29. Place the frypan back over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season the fish with salt. Cook the fish for 1 minute on medium heat then reduce to low heat and cook for a further 2 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and crispy. Use an oiled fish slice to flip the fish over and season potato scales with salt.
30. Add 80g butter to the frypan with 6 sprigs of thyme and 1 clove of garlic. As the butter melts and foams, baste the fish. Cook for 2 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove fish from the pan and transfer to a tray to rest.
31. Repeat with remaining 2 fish portions.
32. Squeeze lemon juice into the Minestrone and adjust seasoning if needed.
33. Warm the saucepan of Macadamia Puree gently on low heat.
34. To plate, make a circle of Macadamia Puree in the centre of the plate.
35. Spoon Minestrone around the puree, leaving most of the liquid in the pan. Lightly drizzle olive oil over the Minestrone.
36. Garnish with fennel fronds, micro watercress and mustard cress. Season lightly with fennel pollen and salt flakes.
37. Place one portion of fish on top of Macadamia Puree.