Pan Fried Brill Recipe with Sauce Vierge
This recipe is a tour-de-force of simplicity, whole on-the-bone small brill is quickly pan-fried in butter, and it is served with a delicious tomato and basil sauce vierge, and it tastes incredible.
Servings 2 Servings
Calories 603kcal
Ingredients
- 2 Small Whole Brill 350g Each
- 2-3 tablespoon Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 35 g Butter 2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
For the Sauce Vierge:
- 75 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil ⅓ Cup
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 2 Small-Medium Tomatoes 200g Total
- 1 Small Echalion or Banana Shallot 25g
- 24-36 Basil Leaves
- ¾-1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Pour the olive oil into a bowl.
- Peel the garlic cloves, then crush them with the side of a knife and add them to the olive oil. Don't bash them too hard; you will be removing them later.
- Cut each tomato into 8 wedges, then cut out the seeds, roughly chop the flesh and add it to the olive oil. Then place the seeds from the tomatoes into a fine mesh sieve and press out the juice from the seeds using a spoon into the bowl.
- Cut the shallot in half, peel it, then dice it as finely as you can and add it to the bowl.
- Roughly chop the basil leaves and toss them into the bowl.
- Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to the bowl (do this to taste) and give everything a mix, then allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for at least 90 minutes *SEE NOTE BELOW!*
- Whilst the sauce is getting funky, prepare the fish. Begin by cutting the tail off each fish, then trim the fins top and bottom with some sharp kitchen scissors, and then trim off the dorsal fins. There will be one on the dark and one on the light side of the fish. Cut off the head (optional), then finally pick at the tail end of the fish to loosen the dark skin, then grab this with a dry tea towel and pull; the skin will pull away. This will take a little effort, but should not be too difficult.
- When you are ready to cook, season the fish with salt and then lightly dredge it in flour, making sure you tap off any excess.
- Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, and when it is hot, add the butter. When the butter begins to foam, add the fish, add the side you removed the skin from first, and cook it for 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Serve immediately with the sauce vierge, making sure that you remove the garlic cloves from the sauce.
Notes
You can speed up the process of making the sauce vierge by heating the olive oil, tomatoes and garlic on the lowest heat of your hob in a small pan for 10-15 minutes. Be sure not to add the seasoning and basil until you have got the flavours all mingled together.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 603kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 1082mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g
