I learned a new french word today: Meunière. It means (in the manner of the miller’s wife) dredged in flour before pan-frying in butter usually with lemon juice and chopped parsley sprinkled on top. Usually done with fish, the butter it was sautéed in, is poured onto it and served with a wedge of lemon.
This really quick and simple meuniere recipe is from Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa), one of my fave food network star. I paired it with spaghetti aglio e olio and it was great. I like the taste of lemon on the fish, I’ve never tried something like this before, and now I wonder why I hadn’t. will definitely cook this again, my family liked it especially my 9-year old daughter. It looks quite plain in the pictures but it is really yummy (I should have added some salad greens).
I don’t know what a sole fish is, so I just used the fish fillet that I regularly buy in the supermarket. It’s called basa fish fillet. I don’t know if there’s a big difference there but it looks similar in the picture of Ina’s sole meuniere recipe on her website and it turned out great for me so I don’t see any problem at all in the substitution and oh, I used olive oil instead of butter to make it healthier.
Easy Sole Meuniere
Ingredients
- ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Black Pepper Fresh
- 4 pcs Fresh Sole or Cod Fillet 3 to 4 ounces each
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 tsp Lemon Zest Grated
- Lemon Juice 3 Lemons
- 1 tbsp Fresh Parsley Minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Have 2 heat-proof dinner plates ready.
- Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate.
- Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels and sprinkle one side with salt.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat until it starts to brown.
- Dredge 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot butter.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn carefully with a metal spatula and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.
- While the second side cooks, add ½ teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan.
- Carefully put the fish fillets on the ovenproof plates and pour the sauce over them.
- Keep the cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the remaining 2 fillets.
- When they’re done, add the cooked fillets to the plates in the oven.
- Sprinkle with the parsley, salt, and pepper and serve immediately.
The spaghetti aglio e olio is the easiest pasta dish anyone can make, I usually substitute it in place of rice. It’s like the Italian version of our sinangag (Filipino fried rice with garlic). Aglio e Olio simply means garlic and oil.
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Ingredients
- 12 oz Spaghetti cooked and al aldente
- ¼ cup Olive Oil extra virgin
- 1 tbsp Red Chili Pepper Flakes dried
- 1 tbsp Garlic granulated
- Salt to taste
- Ground Pepper to taste
- 1 tsp Dried Basil optional
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package direction.
- Heat the olive oil and red pepper flakes and dried basil if using, in a pan on low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked spaghetti and seaon with granulated garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
- You may add a little of the pasta water if it gets too dry.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley (if available).
- That's it, serve immediately.
Happy cooking!
Olive 😊
