Quick fish with asparagus and lentils (sole meunière)

Sole meunière is a classic French dish. This version makes a super-fast dinner, with a tangy lemon-butter sauce.

Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes

• serves

  1

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 sole fillet, skin on
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
• A small bunch of asparagus, shaved into thin slices
• 50 g butter
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 125 g ready to eat puy lentils (see Note)

Instructions

1. Remove any prominent bones from the fish fillet using tweezers. Season the flour with salt and pepper on a large plate and press the fillet into the mix to coat on either side. Shake off any excess and set aside on a clean plate.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, big enough to hold the fish fillet, over a high heat. Add the fish fillet, skin-side down, and asparagus and cook for 2 minutes and then turn over the fish. Add half the butter and a squeeze of lemon and cook for a further minute until golden and butter melts. Using a fish slice, remove the fillets and asparagus from the pan and set aside on a warmed plate.
3. Place the pan back over a high heat and melt the remaining butter until it is foaming, then add the lemon juice and continue to cook until the butter turns a nutty golden brown.
4. Pour the butter-lemon mix over the fish. Warm the lentil in the pan with the remaining pan sauce and serve straight away.

Note

•  Donal uses packet ready-to-eat lentils; You could substitute home-cooked Puy lentils, or tinned brown lentils.

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.