Fillets of Plaice with Fennel and Lemon Parsley Butter

Fillets of Plaice with Fennel and Lemon Parsley Butter

Also in this post; How to trim and fillet a whole plaice.

This is a very delicate light appetiser to get the juices flowing for your main course; the flavoured butter adds the finishing touches to these wonderfully light fillets of fish.

If you are going to make this dish from ready filleted fish then you can skip down to the ingredients section to start, or indeed you might want learn how to trim and fillet a plaice for next time.

OK let’s start by trimming and filleting the plaice.

Take a pair of kitchen scissors and cut off the tail and trim off the fins around the outside.

Remove the head by cutting just under the fin, cut as close to the head as possible otherwise you will lose some of the meatiest part.

With the dark side uppermost take a small sharp knife and make a cut from head to tail along the back bone.

Start from the middle at the head end and cut against the bone gently teasing away the fillet all the way down.

Repeat this on the other side and also on the underside.

To skin the top fillets make a small cut at the tail to separate the skin from the flesh, lay skin side down with your knife in between then press down with your hand and carefully cut towards the head end.

For 2 servings you will need

1 – Whole Plaice or 4 small fillets

1 bulb – Fennel

Butter and olive oil for frying

The lemon parsley butter

100 Gm – Butter (softened not melted)

1 table spoon – Fresh Parsley (finely chopped)

The zest and juice of half a lemon

To make the flavoured butter beat the softened butter, parsley and lemon zest in a bowl then add the lemon juice little by little as you are mixing.

Put in a ramekin and place in the fridge, this will make more than you will need for the dish but it will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Pan fry the fillets in butter on a medium heat for about 3 minutes each side or until cooked through.

At the same time in a separate pan thinly slice the fennel add a little black pepper and gently fry in a little olive oil for 2 – 3 minutes.

Line your dish with the fennel, place your fillets over and top with a spoonful of the lemon parsley butter.

Serve warm as a starter.