LEMON SOLE WITH BEURRE NOISETTE

This is such a beautiful dish and one of my favourites. You need to get the pan really hot for the beurre noisette, but watch it carefully. If it goes too brown it will be bitter, and if it’s too light you just get a butter sauce. Aim for a golden-brown colour, then quickly remove it from the heat.

Serves 2

● 1tbsp plain flour, for dusting

● Salt and freshly ground black pepper

● 4 lemon sole fillets

● A knob of butter

● A drizzle of vegetable oil For the beurre noisette

sauce

● 100g (3½oz) butter, cubed

● Juice of ½ a lemon

● 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

● 10g (¼oz) capers, chopped

● 1 bunch watercress

● Lemon wedges

Place the flour in a shallow dish and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Coat each fillet in the flour, patting gently to remove any excess.

In a large nonstick frying pan (ideally a silver pan so you can see the colour of the sauce) melt the butter and the oil until foaming. Add the fillets and quickly fry on a medium heat for one minute. Increase the heat and fry for a further minute, then gently flip them over and cook through for a final minute. Remove the fillets to a plate and keep warm.

To make the beurre noisette sauce, wipe the pan and melt the butter on a medium high heat for a few minutes until it starts to foam, swirling the pan until it bubbles and turns a golden nutty brown colour. Remove from the heat (it will keep cooking) and add the lemon juice, parsley and capers to finish.

Pop the fish onto plates and spoon over the sauce. Decorate with watercress and lemon wedges and serve immediately.