Pan-fried baby sole (sole poêlée)

My first experience with baby sole was at the main market in Île d'Oléron: this particular variety of sole can only be found around this island. The meat is so delicate and sweet, so you don’t have to do too much to it - a bit of lemon, butter and salt and it's done.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 whole baby sole, gutted, cleaned
• salt
• 100 g flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 20 g butter
• 1 lemon, half juiced, half cut into wedges
• ¼ cup chopped parsley

Instructions

Season the fish with salt, then dust with flour.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and half of the butter, and heat until foaming. Pan-fry fish, basting with pan juices, for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crisp.

Transfer fish to a serving plate. Add remaining butter to pan and heat until foaming. Add parsley and lemon juice. Spoon lemon-butter mixture over fish. Season with salt and serve with lemon wedges.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.