Sole à la Normande
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
A classic French fish dish made with delicate sole fillets gently poached in cider and fish stock. The rich, creamy sauce is finished with brown shrimps, mussels and lemon. Serve with wilted spinach for a special dinner.
Ingredients
For the sole à la Normande
- 2 megrim sole fillets, skinned and cut in half lengthways
- 40g/1½oz unsalted butter
- 1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 100g/3½oz button mushrooms, quartered
- 150ml/5fl oz dry cider
- 200ml/7fl oz fish stock
- 12 fresh mussels, cleaned and debearded
- 150ml/5fl oz double cream
- 1 heaped tbsp crème fraîche
- 2 medium free-range egg yolks
- 50g/1¾oz brown shrimps
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley, to garnish
- salt and ground white pepper
To serve
- 200g/7oz wilted large-leaf spinach
Method
Roll up the sole fillets and secure each one with a cocktail stick.
Melt 25g/1oz of the butter in a large frying pan or shallow saucepan over a medium heat. Add the shallot and cook gently until softened.
Pour in the cider, bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half. Add the fish stock, bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Discard any mussels with broken shells or any that don’t close when tapped. Add the rolled sole fillets and mussels to the pan. Cover with a lid and poach gently for 5–8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until the sole is just cooked through and flakes easily and the mussels have opened.
Carefully remove the fish and mussels from the pan and keep warm. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened during cooking.
Strain the poaching liquid into a clean saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook until reduced by about half.
Add the double cream and crème fraîche and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with a little of the warm sauce, then gradually stir the mixture back into the saucepan over a very low heat. Stir gently until the sauce has thickened. Don’t let it boil.
Whisk in the remaining 15g/½oz butter, then add the brown shrimps. Season with lemon juice, salt and white pepper.
Remove the cocktail sticks from the sole and arrange the fillets on a serving dish. Spoon over the sauce and arrange the mussels and mushrooms around the fish. Scatter over the chopped parsley.
Serve with the wilted spinach.
