Lemon Butter-Braised Sole Food

You remember the scene in Julia and Julia when Julia and Paul are seated at a restaurant in Paris and the waiter brings them a large copper skillet with that humungo fillet of fish sizzling in it, and Julia coos and leans over for a sniff and breathlessly says, “….butter.”

Oh yeah.

And then remember a split second later when the waiter perfectly and delicately dissects the fish away from its bones and places it back on her plate with that rich buttery parsley-y drizzled sauce I AM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW FOR IT.

Yeah.

A) How in the name of Tarzan did he do that?

and B) Why isn’t it on my tongue right now?

Well, here’s the Bev version. It’s simple. It’s quick. And it has wine and garlic and butter in it.

Yeah.

Grab a couple of sole fillets, some swiss chard, some butter (duh), garlic, lemon, some wine (not pictured becauuuuuse, wellllll, yeah), some parsley and a red chile. If you don’t have a chile, no sweat. (get it?) Just throw in a pinch of crushed red pepper if you want a little heat.

Start by sautéing the garlic and pepper in some olive oil. Or butter! Shoot, do it.

Then add your chard to the pan and wilt for a couple of minutes. I actually added a weeee bit of wine to the pan, too. But it’s up to you. If you’d rather the wine go into your mouth, I totally get it.

Then you’ll remove the chard and set it aside. Back in the pan, add the wine! Let it reduce for about a minute. Then, roll up the little sole fillets into bundles and place them in the wine. Layer two lemon slices on top of each fillet and season with salt and pepper. Close the lid for 3 or 4 minutes, and omg.

Carefully remove the fish bundles from the pan and set them aside. Then, back in the pan, add the lemon juice aaaaaaand the butter. Yes, baby. And oh! Add the minced parsley. Whisk whisk whisk until it’s nice and smooth and velvety and you want to snorkel in it.

Heaven help us all. You’ll divide the swiss chard among two plates and top with the flaky fish bundles. THEN, you’ll just pour that buttery wine lemony parsley sauce over the dish and proooooobably lose your mind.

Yeah, definitely gonna lose it.

And lost.

More Recipes with Sole

• Lemon Breaded Sole Fillets Recipe
• Mediterranean Sole with Ratatouille Recipe
• Sole Florentine Recipe

Bev only used two tablespoons of butter in this meal, but by aaaaaall means, follow your heart beams and add more if the angels guide you that direction. For more musings, visit her blog Bev Cooks and her Tablespoon profile.