Flatfish (Flounder) w/ Tomato, Wine & Basil

Flounder Recipe

The delicious, fresh sauce in this recipe is a great accompaniment to whole flatfish (we used Flounder) but it also works well over flatfish fillets – simply flour and pan fry your fillets (don’t finish them in the oven). We’ve used broccoli for the vege component, but you can sub with any greens that chargrill well that you like.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: Two

Use: whole flatfish (Sole, Brill, Flounder or Turbot), or sub with flatfish fillets of your choice.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 plate sized Flatfish (we used Flounder), gilled, gutted and scaled
  • 150g Plain Flour
  • Flaky Sea Salt
  • Freshly Cracked Pepper
  • 60ml Oil, for frying
  • 120g Butter
  • 200g Cherry Tomatoes
  • 1 head of Broccoli, cut into florets
  • 6 cloves of Garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Baby Capers
  • 200ml White Wine
  • 1 Lemon
  • 60g fresh Basil Leaves

METHOD

To cook the fish:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan bake.
  • Trim off the fins and tail of the flatfish using kitchen scissors, and pat it dry with a paper towel.
  • Season the flour with the salt and pepper and place onto a flat plate.
  • Dredge the fish in the seasoned flour.
  • Heat a large oven proof fry pan on a medium high heat (make sure the pan is large enough to fit the whole fish).
  • Add half the oil and a third of the butter, let the butter foam up, and once it stops foaming add the fish head side down.
  • Cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until golden, then carefully turn over and place into the pre-heated oven for approximately 6 minutes.
  • Once cooked, remove from the oven, turn back over and allow to rest.

 To make the sauce:

  • While the fish is cooking, heat a medium-sized saucepan to a medium-high heat.
  • Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and char the skins.
  • Heat a griddle plate, fry pan or BBQ to a high heat, season the brocolli and char it until cooked.
  • While your brocolli is cooking, add the remaining oil and a third of the butter to the pan with the cherry tomatoes, then add the chopped garlic and baby capers, and fry for about a minute.
  • Add the white wine to the pan, bring to the boil and reduce slightly. Remove from the heat and add the remaining butter, stir into the sauce.
  • Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and tear up the basil leaves and add to the sauce.

To assemble:

  • Place the cooked flounder onto a serving dish (or serve in the pan)
  • Pour over the tomato and basil sauce.
  • Garnish with lemon wedges, and serve with the grilled broccoli.