Whole roast plaice with anchovy and sage butter, new potatoes and sea vegetables

Whole roast plaice with anchovy and sage butter, new potatoes and sea vegetables

The combination of anchovy and sage is known in Italy as ‘il tartufo di pescatore’ or ‘the fisherman’s truffle’. Add a beautiful buttery whole roast plaice along with waxy new potatoes and salty sea vegetables, and you have a real catch on your hands.

Whole roast plaice with anchovy and sage butter, new potatoes and sea vegetables

Need a speedier fish dish? Try this plaice with lemon parsley butter and crushed potatoes. 

  • Serves icon Serves 2
  • Time icon Hands-on time 30 min, oven time 50-55 min

The combination of anchovy and sage is known in Italy as ‘il tartufo di pescatore’ or ‘the fisherman’s truffle’. Add a beautiful buttery whole roast plaice along with waxy new potatoes and salty sea vegetables, and you have a real catch on your hands.

Need a speedier fish dish? Try this plaice with lemon parsley butter and crushed potatoes. 

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
763kcals
Fat
51g (25.6g saturated)
Protein
33g
Carbohydrates
40.7g (4.3g sugars)
Fibre
4.5g
Salt
3.7g

Ingredients

  • 500g new potatoes, cut into 1cm rounds
  • Olive oil to drizzle
  • Sea salt flakes
  • 2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, ½ juiced and ½ cut into wedges to serve
  • 75g butter, plus an extra knob for frying
  • 3 fresh sage sprigs, leaves finely chopped, a few reserved whole
  • 5 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped
  • 160g mixed sea vegetables (see tip)
  • 1 large sustainable whole plaice
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Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Toss the potatoes in a large roasting tin with a good drizzle of oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Nestle the lemon slices among the potatoes, then roast for 40 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden and crisp.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the 75g butter in a sauté pan over a low-medium heat and fry the reserved whole sage leaves until crisp, then drain on kitchen paper and set aside. Gently heat the butter in the pan until it begins to brown and smell nutty (don’t let it burn). Add a little lemon juice (be careful as it may spit), then stir in the anchovies and chopped sage. Cook for another minute or so until the anchovies start to break down and the sage turns crisp, then transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Don’t wash the pan.
  3. Once the potatoes are crisp, lay the whole plaice on top and drizzle with a tablespoon of the anchovy butter. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the fish is just cooked. When you insert a small knife, the delicate flesh should be opaque and flaky.
  4. Heat a small knob of butter in the sauté pan and add the sea vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until wilted, then season with salt and lemon juice.
  5. Once the plaice is cooked, arrange the sea veg around the fish, scatter with the fried sage leaves and drizzle with the remaining anchovy butter. Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
763kcals
Fat
51g (25.6g saturated)
Protein
33g
Carbohydrates
40.7g (4.3g sugars)
Fibre
4.5g
Salt
3.7g

delicious. tips

  1. Sea vegetables are available in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s and from finefoodspecialist.co.uk. We used samphire and sea aster, but if you can’t find any you can use spinach instead.

    Learn how to cook a whole fish below…

  2. Savoury, salty flavours here suit a lighty oaked, slightly smoky white such
    as a fine Graves bordeaux blanc.

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Read what others say...

  1. This was absolutely delicious and had that restaurant quality taste about it with very little effort or fuss. Will do again and possibly for friends as had the wow factor!

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