Dinner for one, simple and quick, cooked in just one pan
Diana Henry The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
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Published
Fish is probably the food most suited to cooking for one. You can pay attention to doing it perfectly. I ate this a lot during the summer while travelling in the north of Germany. There they also serve it with little North Sea brown shrimps on top, instead of (or as well as) the bacon.
Overview
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
15 mins
Serves
1
Ingredients
- 25g smoked-bacon lardons
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 160g fillet of plaice, skin on
- 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
- 10g butter
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice, plus a wedge of lemon, to serve
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Method
Step
Heat a small frying pan and sauté 25g smoked-bacon lardons in the fat that runs out of it as it cooks. It should be golden all over. Cover to keep warm.
Step
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil to a medium-high heat in a different pan.
Step
Dip a 160g skin-on plaice fillet in 2 tbsp seasoned flour on both sides and put it in the hot oil, skin-side down.
Step
Cook for 2 minutes on that side, then turn over and do the same on the other side. Put on a warmed plate.
Step
Melt 10g butter in the hot pan then add 1-2 tbsp lemon juice to taste, 1 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley and some seasoning.
Step
Pour over the fish and spoon on the bacon lardons. Serve with a wedge of lemon. This is delicious with samphire.