- 4 plaice fillets
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 lemongrass stems
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- 2 tomatoes
- 50g/2oz butter
- 110ml/4fl oz white wine
- 175ml/6fl oz fish stock
- 110ml/4fl oz double cream, lightly whipped
- 2 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves only, roughly chopped
- 300g/10oz baby spinach
- Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
- Season the plaice with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then roll up like cigars. Cut one of the lemongrass stalks lengthways into four to create skewers and push a skewer through each plaice roll to secure.
- Butter a small ovenproof dish and add the shallots and garlic.
- Blanch the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water, then remove the skins and cut into quarters. Reserve the skins.
- De-seed the tomatoes and place the seeds and skin into the buttered dish with the shallots and garlic.
- Cut the tomato quarters into very small cubes and set aside.
- Heat a frying pan until hot and add half the butter and all the plaice rolls. Cook for one minute on each side, until just golden-brown. Place the plaice rolls into the dish and pour over the white wine and fish stock.
- Cover the dish with kitchen foil and place into the oven to cook for 7-10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and remove the plaice from the dish and set aside in a warm place.
- Pour the cooking liquid from the dish through a sieve into a clean frying pan. Simmer until reduced in volume by half.
- Add the reserved tomato pieces, the whipped cream, tarragon and the remaining stalk of lemongrass and warm through. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Heat a separate frying pan until hot. Add the remaining butter and all of the spinach and cook until the spinach has just wilted down.
- To serve, place a spoonful of spinach into the centre of each of two plates. Top each with two rolls of plaice and spoon over the sauce.