zoom Seared sea bass with fennel and lemon

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    Seared sea bass with fennel and lemon

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    Seared sea bass with fennel and lemon

    • Preparation time: 20 minutes
    • Cooking time: 30 minutes
    • Total time: 50 minutes 50 minutes

    Serves: 2

    Ingredients

    70g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
    1 onion, finely diced
    1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
    2 lemon thyme sprigs
    1 lemon, zest
    100ml dry vermouth (such as Noilly Prat)
    250ml fish stock
    1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
    2 sea bass fillets
    1 tbsp olive oil

    Method

    1. Heat 30g butter in a large frying pan until foaming; keep the rest of the butter in the fridge until needed. Add the onion, fennel, lemon thyme and lemon zest to the pan and gently cook for 5 - 6 minutes, until the onion begins to soften.

    2. Add the vermouth, bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 minutes until reduced by a third. Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer for about 10 minutes until you have a syrupy sauce.

    3. Slowly add the remaining cubes of chilled butter to the pan, one at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon. The mixture will thicken a little as you add each cube. Season, remove the thyme sprigs and add the chopped parsley.

    4. Heat a frying pan until hot. Brush the sea bass with the olive oil and season. Add the fish to the pan, skin-side down, and fry without moving for 3 minutes. Turn the fish over and remove the pan from the heat.

    5. Divide the fennel and onion between two plates and set a piece of fish on top. Serve drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil, if liked.

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    How to

    Learn how to fillet a fish with the help of Waitrose Cookery School Head chef, Gordon McDermott. Click here.

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