Eating out at a quality restaurant is one of life’s great pleasures. Exceptional food, perfect wine matches and seamless service. Pre-kids we dined out a lot more often than we do now, and at slightly different establishments, at home and abroad. Many of our most-told travel stories centre around what we ate.
This wonderful pan-fried fish with lentils dish was inspired by one of the courses in a spectacular degustation menu we enjoyed many years ago. I hadn’t used lentils with much other than lamb before trying to recreate this dish but they really work with the fish. So delicious and as far as I can tell reasonably healthy. This pan-fried fish with lentils is now one of my favourite ways to serve fish.
This pan-fried fish with lentils is a magical dish. The combination of buttery fish and creamy lentils is unexpectedly good, and the semi-roasted tomatoes bring a great acidity that rounds the meal out perfectly. Plus, other than the time it takes to cook the lentils, its super fast to put together and is incredibly satisfying.
First, start with the lentils and while they are bubbling away, you can roast your tomatoes. The tomatoes are just as delicious served warm rather than hot from the oven so you can cook them while you wait for the lentils, then move on to prepping your fish.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup green lentils, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 300g truss tomatoes
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (if using dried, only use a tsp)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 fillets of your favourite white fish - you'll need 150-200g per person
- ¼ cup flour for dusting the fish
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- juice of half a lemon
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and gently saute the onion for 5 minutes until is it soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add the lentils, stir to coat in the onion and garlic, then pour in the chicken stock. Pop in the bay leaf and bring the mixture to a gentle boil.
- Reduce the heat and allow to simmer very gently, so the lentils are only just moving, for around 45-60 minutes until the lentils are soft but still slightly firm to the bite. Keep an eye on them while cooking and if too much stock evaporates, top up with water. The liquid should just about cover the lentils.
- Once cooked (they will be soft to the bite), check the seasoning and add a little salt if the lentils need more flavour.
- While the lentils are cooking, preheat your oven to 200C. Leave the tomatoes on the stem and cut the stem into portion sizes - usually 3-4 tomatoes per person is plenty.
- Place the tomatoes into a roasting dish and drizzle over the oil, vinegar and golden syrup. Sprinkle with the oregano, season with salt and pepper, and roast for around 8-10 minutes until the skin is starting to burst and the tomatoes are just starting to soften.
- Set aside until ready to serve.
- Once the lentils and tomatoes are ready, cook your fish. Place the flour in to a shallow container and lightly dust the fish. Heat a frypan over a medium-high heat and drop in the butter.
- While the butter is still foaming, lay your fish fillets in the pan. Season the side of the fish facing up with salt and pepper. Cook for around 4 minutes until golden around the edges and the fish is almost cooked through, then gently flip the fish over, season the side now facing up, and cook for just another minute.
Fish will continue to cook once you take it off the heat so it usually pays to take it out of the pan when slightly underdone. - Drain the fish on paper towels.
- Place the pan with the butter you cooked the fish in back on the heat briefly and squeeze in the lemon juice. Swirl the juices for a minute, then set aside.
- Spoon the lentils into your chosen plate or bowl for serving. Carefully lay a fish fillet on top, then the tomatoes. Spoon over some the butter/lemon pan juices (there won't be heaps, just enough for a bit of a lemony drizzle over the fish), crack on some freshly ground pepper, and serve immediately.
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