Pan-Fried Scottish Plaice with Capers & Shallots
Don’t let the simplicity of this dish fool you - with only a few ingredients, the gorgeously subtle flavour of our Scottish Plaice is elevated into a truly restaurant worthy recipe. Light with a taste of the seaside from the salty capers, a hint of zesty lemon to cut through the rich beurre sauce, and crushed new potatoes to perfectly combine it all together, what’s not to love. Never be daunted by cooking Plaice again!
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: 15 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients
• 25g plain flour
• 2 tbsp oil for frying, we use light olive oil
• 50g unsalted butter
• 2 shallots, finely sliced (lengthways)
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
• ½ x 25g pack flat leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
Crushed New Potatoes
• 500g new potatoes
• Olive oil
• 4 Spring onions, sliced
• (Optional, to serve) Green beans
Method
1. Start by boiling salted water for the potatoes in a saucepan.
2. Spread the flour out on a large plate and season. Pat the fish fillets dry with kitchen paper, then evenly coat them in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.
3. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook for 15 minutes, or until tender.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When small bubbles appear in the oil, add the fillets to the pan. Place the fish skin-side down, and cook without moving for 3-4 minutes. Gentle flip the Plaice over to cook other side for a minute. Check they are cooked through and transfer to warm plates.
5. Carefully wipe out the pan with kitchen paper, removing any flour, then add the butter and return to the heat. Melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the shallots and capers and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the shallots are softened and the butter is turning a light brown.
6. While the shallots are simmering gently, drain the potatoes and tip them into a bowl, and crush with the olive oil until broken but not mashed.
7. Add the lemon juice to the shallots and swirl in the pan for a few seconds, remove the pan from the heat and stir through the parsley.
8. Mix the spring onions into the potatoes and season to taste.
9. To serve, spoon the sauce over the plaice fillets. Scatter the lemon zest over the Plaice, add the new potatoes to the plate and serve with green beans.
